adesso is growing: grand opening of expanded headquarters in Dortmund

Founded in Dortmund in 1997, adesso is today one of Germany’s leading IT service providers. With more than 10,000 employees, the company continues to grow both nationally and internationally. “Dortmund and the Ruhr Valley stand for passion and spirit, but also for down-to-earthness and openness,” said Prof. Dr. Volker Gruhn, founder of adesso and Chairman of the company’s Supervisory Board. “These values are an important part of our corporate culture and drive our innovative strength.” Contrary to the trend towards increased mobile working, the IT service provider is creating additional space for more staff at its Dortmund site. From now on, employees will have access to a total of around 1,400 workstations spread across three building complexes. Gruhn: “The new, third building is not a rejection of mobile working. However, we firmly believe that growth and innovative strength are supported in particular by communication, interaction and knowledge transfer. Face-to-face encounters and the associated creative exchange promote these aspects of successful collaboration in the project business, which we believe are valuable. That’s why our aim was to create a place where we enjoy coming together and creating something with each other. And we have succeeded, as the feedback from employees who have been working here since the end of 2023 shows.”

An evening with hit potential

Among the guests at the opening ceremony was Dortmund Mayor Thomas Westphal. Together with Gruhn and Jens Spitczok von Brisinski, Site Manager of adesso Dortmund, he welcomed those present and officially kicked off the celebrations.

“adesso is an outstanding example of successful structural change in the region,” Westphal said. “The company has been following a continuous and impressive growth path for almost 27 years. Then as now, it attracts highly qualified IT specialists. As an attractive employer, it also helps to shape Dortmund’s importance as a business location. adesso is continuing this success story with the further expansion of its headquarters here in Dortmund.”

The attendees, who included numerous representatives of regional customers such as Borussia Dortmund, WILO and Continentale, were treated to an evening that was “composed” in the truest sense of the word, with various elements inspired by artificial intelligence (AI). On several floors, the experts at adesso had prepared a journey entirely dedicated to music. With a total of four “tracks”, the hosts consciously alluded to a special feature of the new building: its meeting rooms are named after famous music legends such as Kurt Cobain, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Through the individual tracks, guests were treated to immersive, audiovisual experiences made possible by the latest technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence. For example, the guests took part in virtual concerts, played as DJs at a festival or controlled the light show. At another station, a team of AI presenters took visitors on a fascinating journey through the history of music. They shared exciting anecdotes and surprising background information on legends like the Beatles and Queen.

11,150 square metres for creative collaboration

The Dortmund-based property services provider Freundlieb, which had already overseen the completion of the first two buildings at the adesso headquarters, was again responsible for the third construction phase. The new building scores points on paper as well, with 11,150 square metres spread over five floors and around 400 workstations, supplementing the existing 1,000 at the Dortmund location, as well as an underground car park with 210 parking spaces. The latter are equipped with 50 charging points for electric vehicles. The modern, open-plan office space encourages creative collaboration while also providing quiet spots in the form of smaller offices for concentrated work. There are also 24 conference and meeting rooms, interaction rooms for joint brainstorming and a recording studio for moving image and audio formats. The 5th floor adds a unique accent: in addition to an event kitchen for shared cooking experiences, there is also a lounge with a bar and pool table for events and relaxation.