Some buildings simply have a life of their own. ROBIN is one of them. When you talk to the people behind it—users, developers—you almost get the impression of a thinking, breathing being. But let's start at the beginning. “The building is beautiful,” says Paul Nagler, who recently moved his law firm into ROBIN. “That’s obviously an important point. Plus, the location within Seestadt is just perfect: it’s very central, connected to the subway, close to the main square, and the lake isn’t far either. Post office and restaurants are nearby, which is of course convenient. And it’s also something of a landmark—you can see it from everywhere, it stands out,” continues the chairman of the “Gutes aus der Seestadt” association. You can tell: even if the checklist fits, it’s the feel-good factor that really convinces Nagler. “It’s just pleasant—it’s bright, has high ceilings. The colors are calm and harmonize perfectly with the lines. Overall, everything just works together very harmoniously.”

Things are much more colorful at Coccodrillo—because here, everything revolves around playfulness. And on many different levels: sisters and entrepreneurs Manuela Renner and Tamara Baumgartner-Renner have created an adventure space for children of all ages. The indoor playground offers plenty of adventure for the little ones, but is also designed so that parents can relax in cozy lounges while their kids burn off energy. With the “Karenzcafé,” they also offer a format where employees on parental leave and those with children can come together to share experiences and simply stay up to date. “I’m a mother of two myself,” says Baumgartner-Renner, “and it’s easy to lose touch, to not stay up to date—and when you come back, challenges arise. We just wanted to create a platform that makes re-entry easier—through networking, through talks, it can take many forms.” And then there’s the “Start-up Lab,” which the two inventive entrepreneurs designed for teenagers:

And Renner explains: “Everyone wants to become a social media manager. So we tell them: ‘Alright, then think about how you would present this indoor playground? What would your strategy be?’” Finding the right space for all this—as you might expect—wasn’t easy. “The great thing about ROBIN is its flexibility—we could design it however we wanted. We deliberately left out partition walls wherever possible, and coordinated this closely with SORAVIA. Now we have a very large open space concept.” The windows, in particular, are an added asset: “Indoor playgrounds are often dark halls, but not here. This also brings extra flexibility for using the space as a Karenzcafé or seminar room.”

In the future, we also want to use the neighborhood to expand our study programs with practical experience and build networks: “The students at the private university Schloss Seeburg are diverse, but they share a common goal: the desire for a practical, flexible, and future-oriented education. Our university is especially aimed at working students and people with special challenges, such as those with families or top athletes. We are currently in active exchange with neighboring companies and organizations to get to know them better and explore possible synergies. Exciting approaches and promising cooperation opportunities are already emerging, which have the potential to further strengthen our location. Especially in football, we see interesting prospects due to our proximity to the future ÖFB academy. Since we already work successfully with the ÖFB on various projects, this proximity opens up new opportunities to expand our existing partnership and intensify networking in this segment.”

Harmonious collaboration is also the mission of Paul Nagler’s association “Gutes aus der Seestadt.” The focus is on networking member businesses with each other and beyond. They also cooperate in marketing products and services and organize events. This year, for example, includes the “Seestadt Advent Wreath,” where a different Christmas activity is offered every Advent weekend, as well as the Seestadt Street Festival or events like the “FALCO Forever” show last summer.