USER CENTRIC Solutions

We connect people, spaces, and technologies.

“How do we create future-ready work, living, learning, and experience environments?”

In short: by thinking about people, spaces, and technologies together—and by focusing from the very beginning on how these environments will ultimately be used and operated. We guide our clients through the entire process, from strategy to real-world implementation.

We help organizations address the following challenges

Strategic Value: The benefits of modern workplaces, learning environments, and customer spaces are often not always easy to quantify. We help demonstrate how your investment supports business strategy, improves organizational performance, strengthen competitiveness, and enhances the experience for employees, customers, and other users.
Profitability and ROI: Measuring the success of modern work environments can be complex. We develop business cases, calculate return on investment (ROI) and lifecycle costs, establish KPIs, governance models, and clear accountability to ensure your investment delivers long-term value.
Space Planning and Investment: Organizations are under increasing pressure to reduce costs while creating flexible, scalable real estate portfolios. We develop space strategies and concepts that maximize efficiency and remain financially sustainable throughout the entire lifecycle.
Organizational Change and Effectiveness: Modern, hybrid work, learning, and customer environments have a proven to have a positive impact on collaboration, organizational culture, and brand perception. However, many organizations struggle to manage the change required to realize these benefits. We design and lead change management programs that build engagement, encourage adoption, and inspire collaborations because successful transformation depends on as much people as it does data.
Operations and Sustainability: Rising occupancy costs, inefficient energy use, and inconsistent service delivery can limit organizational performance. We help create models that are efficient, sustainable, and centered on the needs of users.
Technology and Digitalization: Organizations are under pressure to embrace digital platforms and innovations that will remain relevant in the future. At the same time, they must seamlessly integrate audiovisual systems, IT infrastructure, workplace technologies, AI, and data platforms into existing environments in ways that are secure, scalable, and user-friendly. We help organizations navigate this complexity and implement integrated solutions that support long-term success.

At its core, User Centric Solutions is our approach to consulting, planning, and implementating high performing work, living, and learning environments with people and operations at the center.

Our experts address all of these challenges with integrated solutions. Because anyone aiming to transform physical and digital spaces will not get far with isolated planning.

Instead, we combine expertise in organizational consulting, architecture, digitalization and technology consulting, project management, sustainability, and change management.

Workplace

Create a flexible, modular, and hybrid system with us that equally enhances productivity, collaboration, and well-being.

Future-ready work environments are more than offices. They are tools for productivity, collaboration, and operational excellence.

Talent magnet: Work environments that create identity and foster acceptance through user experience
Space efficiency: Flexible, scalable concepts for activity-based working with optimized utilization and sustainable cost-efficiency
Hybrid collaboration: High-performance technological infrastructure for seamless, accessible hybrid collaboration
Adoption and implementation: Integrated change management to ensure productive use of the new work environment from day one

We think and act holistically and guide you from start to finish: from developing your workplace strategy through concept design, planning, and implementation to introduction, scaling, roll-out, and operations.

Education

Together, we create adaptive and inspiring environments where people can learn, collaborate, and sustainably develop their skills in hybrid settings.

Modern teaching and learning environments must make knowledge more accessible and simplify teaching—on-site and hybrid.

Contemporary learning: Environments that support educators and learners while enabling innovative teaching and learning formats
Hybrid excellence: Interactive presentation, communication, and collaboration technologies for in-person and remote participants in one space
Scalability: Standardized, cost-efficient concepts for sustainable operations and portfolio-wide roll-outs
Enablement and adoption: Integrated change management with targeted training for staff and educators

We develop solutions for hybrid education in modern learning environments—advising you on both strategic alignment and the implementation of innovative teaching formats to ensure long-term, cost-effective operations.

Brand Spaces

Together, we develop consistent, emotionally engaging physical-digital (“phygital”) touchpoints. This creates personal relevance, strengthens brand identity, and enables a seamless customer journey.

Customer and brand loyalty emerge where phygital spaces become measurable brand experiences.

Brand experience: Brand and retail formats that provide orientation, build trust, and support purchasing decisions
Customer journey: Seamless experiences through the integration of physical and digital touchpoints
Technological staging: Innovative technologies for impactful spatial presentation of brands and products
Scalability: Cross-location store concepts and standardized approaches for efficient roll-outs
Operational efficiency: Efficient organization of roll-out and operations

We develop holistic concepts for brand and retail spaces—from planning and implementation to roll-out and operations.

SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

With us, you create immersive, emotional experience spaces that increase fan engagement, strengthen your brand, and enable seamless live and digital experiences.

Modern sports and entertainment environments are far more than venues - they are platforms for emotion, interaction, and identification. Whether live on-site, hybrid, or digital, they connect visitor experience, operations, and monetization into one integrated system.

Fan experience: Holistically designed environments that create proximity, emotion, and identification—before, during, and after events
Immersive staging: Audiovisual and digital technologies for impactful storytelling and presentation of games, shows, and brands
Seamless touchpoints: End-to-end visitor and user experiences through intelligent integration of physical, digital, and mobile touchpoints
Operational and revenue performance: User- and operations-focused concepts for efficient management of operations, safety, hospitality, and monetization
Scalability and future readiness: Standardized, maintainable, and scalable solutions for multifunctional use, seasonal formats, and roll-outs

We support you holistically—from strategic experience and usage definition through concept, planning, and implementation to commissioning, ongoing operations, and continuous development.

HOTEL AND HOSPITALITY

Create personal, seamless, and multisensory experiences that enhance comfort, efficiency, and emotional guest connection at every touchpoint.

True guest experience emerges when comfort, flexibility, and experiential quality are combined with efficient operations—whether in modern hotels, co-working spaces, or event venues.

Guest experience: Comfortable, flexible hospitality and event spaces with distinctive character
Market positioning: From market strategy through concept and planning to roll-out and operations
Digital guest experience: Intelligent information and wayfinding systems, as well as in-room entertainment for greater comfort and security
Multi-format performance: Technology and usage concepts for events, meetings, conferences, and changing formats
Investment security: Sustainable operational concepts for long-term performance and cost-efficiency

We guide you through your entire project—from market positioning to concept, planning, implementation, roll-out, and operations.

COMMAND AND CONTROL

We create high-performance, secure, and intuitive work environments that enable situational decision-making, real-time transparency, and efficient collaboration in critical scenarios.

Modern control rooms, operations centers, and situation centers are the nerve center of organizational capability. They integrate information, technologies, and people into a unified decision and response system—meeting the highest standards of availability, security, and ergonomics around the clock.

Situational awareness: Intelligent visualization and information concepts for a shared, reliable real-time operational picture
Human-machine interaction: Ergonomic, user-centered workstations for sustained high performance in critical operations
Technological resilience: Highly available, secure, and scalable AV, IT, and control room technologies for mission-critical applications
Interdisciplinary collaboration: Spaces and systems that seamlessly connect leadership, analysis, decision-making, and operations—locally, hybrid, and across organizations
Operations and future readiness: Standardized, maintainable concepts with clear strategies for operation, updates, and scalability across the entire lifecycle

We support you holistically throughout your entire project—from strategic needs and requirements analysis through concept, planning, and realization to commissioning, training, operational organization, and continuous development of your command and control environment.

Our Approach

We take an integrated, strategic, and holistic approach partnering with clients from strategy development through implementation and ongoing operations.

People, places, and technology are inseparable and should never be considered in isolation. We take a comprehensive view that integrates people, organizations, environments, digital transformation, and technology to create effective, scalable, and economically sustainable solutions. The result is high-performing environments that deliver exceptional user experiences while supporting long-term business objectives.

Your Added Value

Real Estate and Space Strategy
We provide a clear foundation for decision-making on new construction, modernization, relocations, or portfolio rollouts. Our strategic guidance enables clients to plan with confidence, accelerate decision-making, and optimize investment.
Interior Architecture and Brand Experience
We translate user, customer, and operational requirements into environments that are both functional and inspiring, creating efficient workflows while reinforcing brand identity.
Technology and Digitalization
We integrate modern audiovisual and IT solutions with smart building technologies and data-driven planning to enable better decision making, optimize operations, and create future-ready infrastructure.
Change Management
We support organizational transformation at every stage with clear communication and structured engagement. By involving stakeholders throughout the process, we build understanding, encourage adoption, and help ensure lasting change.
Sustainability and Economic Performance
We align environmental and business objectives across the entire lifecycle to improve sustainability, reduce operating costs, and maximize long-term value.
User Project Management
We manage the entire user-side project lifecycle, from requirements definition and coordination with design and construction teams to change management, relocation, commissioning and operational readiness. This reduces complexity for stakeholders and helps ensure successful project delivery.

Press 15/12/2025

Shaping the Future: Enz District Office Sets New Benchmarks for Administrative Processes and Working Environments

An innovative space concept provides more flexibility to the administration of the Enz district. The modern office design has been developed in collaboration with Drees & Sommer’s experts for ‘new work’; photo credit: Günter Beck ©GJL+

District of Enz, Germany, December 15, 2025. Goodbye dreary office life: the district office of Enz is restructuring its working environments. Three office locations will be completely redesigned to meet the demands of modern teamwork. The future-oriented new design has been inspired by keynote speeches and workshops held by experts from Drees & Sommer SE, a company which specializes in construction and real estate consulting.

The Enz district office began seriously looking into the development of new working environments back in 2021 and made a groundbreaking decision aiming at a redesign of processes and buildings. The district office’s clearly defined objective was the creation of modern and flexible working environments to ensure the preparedness for the challenges of the future. The new construction project on Pforzheim’s Ebersteinstrasse marked the start of the development. The entire office space of the district administration will undergo a redesign. The modernization work of this long-term project will be carried out step by step. In the next phase, the focus will be on the branch office in the city of Mühlacker, where a particular highlight is the close collaboration with local investor, Craiss. The district office and Drees & Sommer together developed a utilization plan that is not only impressive in terms of functionality but has also set new standards in design.

A New Approach to Community Outreach

The new space plan also fundamentally changes the way the district administration works with the community: efficiency, empathy and clear structures are at the heart of it. The vehicle registration office, the psychological advice center, and the job center will be combined under one roof at the future branch office in Mühlacker.

“We provide all kinds of assistance to the community. This is why we are creating an environment that is fit for the future, meets the requirements of modern administration management and satisfies the needs of the people,“ says district administrator Bastian Rosenau.

With People for People

However, a future-proof working environment does not emerge by accident, but is shaped by joint effort. Drees & Sommer provided support to the Enz district from the start of the project with a user-centered approach. The first, and most important, stage was the evaluation of needs. The project was managed by Daniela Heine who heads the area of public administration, education, science and research at Drees & Sommer. The ‘new work’ expert and her team assessed the requirements and challenges of the employees. “The active involvement of our staff members in the process is key to the assessment of needs. This approach enables us to gain a deep understanding of the specific requirements on site,” explains the engineer. The results are directly incorporated in the extended handling, planning and design concept on which the approach to customized spaces and workplace solutions is based. In addition, it serves as a guideline for future new construction and alteration projects of the Enz district.

For the analyses, functionality was not the only important thing, but also the atmosphere of the areas occupied by the staff and the community. With responsible use of resources and a commercially well thought-out approach, the designers came up with a space concept that motivates and invites. Daniela Heine comments: “Clear, friendly and down-to-earth – by simple means we can make a great impact.”

The Three Zones Model: from Public Reception Areas to Focus Spaces

The redesign project is based on the tried and tested ‘three zones model’, which divides the space of the administration building into a public, a semi-public and internal area – suitable to meet the different requirements of citizens and employees. The public area is the central point of contact for the community. It has an open design that creates transparency as well as helping visitors to orient themselves. Attached to this is the semi-public zone, which has state-of-the-art consultation rooms. Employees can have meetings here with members of the public in a professional, confidential environment in compliance with data protection requirements. The internal area is reserved for staff members and enables them to concentrate on work that does not involve interactions with citizens. There are different types of working areas: the focus zones allow for undisturbed individual work and confidential phone calls; the collaboration areas stimulate interdisciplinary exchange and teamwork in open, light rooms; and the base zones are quiet spaces providing structure for everyday routine tasks. Finally, the design includes communication zones, multifunctional meeting rooms, and refreshment areas with space for breaks, spontaneous meetings and recreation.

“The zones will also enhance communication between colleagues, while improving safety in the working environment. The new design provides transparent structures and neutral consultation rooms for visitors, and a protected working environment for staff with ideal conditions for teamwork and a high level of service quality,” explains Daniela Heine.

District administrator Rosenau sums up by noting that “the well thought-out design, a collaborative teamwork and the strong involvement of all stakeholders creates a working atmosphere that combines efficiency with wellbeing.“ The result are future-proof administrative offices with a clear focus on people.