After about 45 years at its location in Spengergasse in Vienna, OETI has now moved! In just under four years of intensive planning and construction, a new low-energy building, which is operated in a CO2-neutral manner, was erected.
From 15.03.2021: Climate-friendly, fully-fledged laboratory location within the TESTEX Group
OETI – Institute for Ecology, Technology and Innovation was founded almost 55 years ago and is a testing institute for textiles, personal protective equipment (PPE) and flooring technology with headquarters in Vienna and 13 other subsidiaries worldwide.
In addition, OETI is a founding member of the International OEKO-TEX® Association. The International Association for Research and Testing in the Field of Textile and Leather Ecology provides independent certification and product labels.
Since 1992, OEKO-TEX® has enabled companies along the textile and leather chain and all consumers to make responsible choices for products that are safe for health, environmentally friendly and fairly produced.
In keeping with this focus on sustainability, OETI and its parent company, the Swiss company TESTEX AG, were keen to build the new OETI headquarters in a low-energy design and to operate it in a CO2-neutral manner. To achieve these goals, the highest levels of thermal insulation and energy-technical optimisation were used, while the CO2-neutral power supply is fed by the in-house photovoltaic system and by domestic renewable energy.
The new headquarter offers space for up to 75 employees on 2,500m2 and impresses with bright and technically well-equipped office areas. The laboratory areas – the analytical/chemical laboratory and the mechanical laboratory – were also designed according to the latest methods and techniques. This makes OETI, alongside its Swiss parent company TESTEX AG, the second fully-fledged laboratory location within the entire, global TESTEX Group.
Details on planning and construction
In 2017, due to the good business success, OETI decides to expand its headquarters in Vienna and acquires a plot of land for the construction of its own business building in Liesing, Vienna’s 23rd district, in the same year. The new building is to do justice to the innovative spirit of the testing institute. Therefore, OETI announces a competition and decides in favour of the Austrian architectural office “Forum Architekten” out of numerous applicants. “Forum Architekten” is known for its creative solutions and has already designed a wide variety of buildings, from airport terminals to lecture halls and private residential buildings.
After an intensive planning phase, construction works start in October 2019. To be able to keep to the schedule for the move-in in mid-March 2021 despite the ongoing pandemic, around 70 craftsmen were working on the construction site at times.
