Bludenz: What it’s like to live in a company apartment

After moving to a Getzner company apartment, the textile engineer can walk to her workplace in no time at all. 61 such apartments have been built in Bludenz in the last two years. The keys were officially handed over on Wednesday. There are not only one-room micro-apartments, but also four-room apartments.

A good 90 percent of the apartments are currently fully rented, explains Markus Comploj, CEO of Getzner Holding. From March, all 61 apartments will be taken. Not only individual employees from Bludenz have moved in: Some employees have also brought their families with them.

“For many of our employees, short distances to work are an important argument,” explains Getzner HR Manager Michael Walter. The residential complex thus increases the quality of life of the residents and relieves the strained real estate market and traffic.

With the apartments heated with geothermal energy, the Getzner companies are once again positioning themselves as a company with a focus on sustainability. The residential complex uses the groundwater as a natural resource: it is pumped out, the energy used directly in the building for heating or cooling purposes and then fed back again.

The approximately 700 m2 playground and the private, underground waste disposal station are also new: “Only the disposal openings can be seen above ground from the waste disposal station, which enabled us to increase the disposal quality and gain space,” emphasizes architect Makrus Mitiska. “And compared to many other residential complexes, the children’s playground has above-average, extensive, appealing equipment. Aqua Mühle advised us here and successfully implemented the playground as part of a social employment project for long-term unemployed people.

The six fully furnished micro-apartments can be rented on a weekly basis. They are used for employees from other locations who only come to Bludenz for a short time. Partner companies should also be able to use them in the future, depending on availability, as Walter explains. The larger apartments with up to four rooms are often used by families for long-term rent. Two buildings located near the railway line are equipped with a “company” vibration protection – namely from Getzner materials. It protects the buildings from vibrations.

Getzner invested in the first company apartments in Vorarlberg more than 130 years ago. The neighboring former employee houses of the Klarenbrunn spinning mill from the 19th century are further evidence of the company’s housing tradition. “As the largest employer in the Bludenz area with around 1,500 employees, it is very important to us to invest in our home location. We now offer around 200 company apartments in the Bludenz area,” summarizes Markus Comploj.

• 6 buildings
• 61 apartments
• Use: Employees of all Getzner companies and cooperation partners
• Apartment sizes: from 1-room micro-apartment (29.5 m²) up to 4 rooms (86 m²)
• Basic equipment (all apartments): terrace or loggia, kitchen, lighting, cellar compartment, underground parking space
• 6 micro-apartments: fully furnished, equipped and ready to move into, can be rented on a weekly basis, common room, all consumption costs included in the rental price, with additional services such as laundry service, etc.
• Children’s playground: high-quality, extensively equipped playground (700 m²)
• Heating requirement: approx. 31 kWh/(m²a) using a heat pump
• Parking: 70 underground parking spaces, 26 visitor parking spaces, 3 bicycle/motorcycle rooms
• Waste disposal station: 9 containers for all containers (each 5 m³)