HELLA Architecture Club enters the third round

The construction industry is facing its biggest crisis in decades. Rising construction costs, high interest rates and more stringent environmental regulations influence how architects and planners design and implement their projects. The balancing act between creativity and cost explosions was discussed by Univ. Prof. of Architecture Dipl.-Ing. Christoph M. Achammer (Chairman of ATP architekten ingenieure), Daniel Riedl, FRICS (Member of the Executive Board of Vonovia SE) and Mag. Thomas Winkler, LL.M. (CEO UBM Development AG).

Prof Achammer, in his opening statement, was convinced that the construction crisis would by no means result in a crisis of creativity - on the contrary: “The crisis is a great opportunity for our industry, which has been working with 30 to 50 per cent wastage for a 100 years. Tighter economic framework conditions do not lead to fewer creative projects, but rather generate more innovative products!"

Thomas Winkler of UBM also agreed with this: “Prototype construction has been around for a 100 years. We need to standardise and modularise much more instead of always improvising!” He doesn't perceive any decrease in creativity or aesthetics either: “And not all cars look the same just because they are mass-produced. Standardisation and modularisation are crucial when it comes to reducing costs and speeding up processes,” says Winkler.

Moderator Rainer Nowak (Department Head of Economics, Domestic and Foreign Policy at Kronen Zeitung) also asked the panel of experts about new developments in the area of digitalisation and current requirements in the area of sustainability. When it came to digitalisation, all panellists saw clear “room for improvement” in the industry, while sustainability is now firmly entrenched in the strategy of many companies. “An  object, which is not ESG-compliant, will no longer be valuable in ten years' time”, says Thomas Winkler.