CUSTOMER CASEBanks

Erste Group secures head office in Vienna with locks from ASSA ABLOY

2023-06-08
1 min read
Erste Group Bank AG

Characteristics:

  • Project: Erste Campus, the headquarters of Erste Group, Vienna
  • Category: Banks
  • Customers: around 16 million in 7 countries
  • Employees: more than 45,000 employees
  • ASSA ABLOY components: 120 ASSA ABLOY 809N security locks
  • ASSA ABLOY partner: Schlosserei Hammerle, Vienna

Challenge:

Founded in 1819 as the “Erste österreichische Spar-Casse”, the Erste Group went public in 1997 with the strategy of expanding its retail business into the growth markets of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Through numerous acquisitions and organic growth, the Erste Group has become one of the largest financial service providers in the eastern part of the EU, based on number of customers and balance sheet total.

The bank’s head office is located on the former premises of Vienna’s southern and eastern railway station and is a symbol of a new corporate culture: a central location for around 5,500 employees of the Erste Group, Erste Bank Austria and their subsidiaries, which are combined in one headquarters for the first time in the company’s history. Handle-operated security locks were sought for the building with a gross floor area of 165,000 square metres, which had to be of a higher quality than the previous locks.

Solution:

Erste Group Bank AG therefore opted for 120 handle-operated security locks series 809NE from ASSA ABLOY, which are used in facade doors in glass frame design. The 809N is a self-locking panic lock with electro-mechanically coupling external handle. It complies with the requirements for intrusion-resistant doors, fire rated doors, emergency exit doors and panic doors in accordance with EN 179 and EN 1125.

The decision-makers were impressed by the high quality of the locks. They have excellent burglary-resistant features and exceed the values required by the standard in terms of bolt forces, for example. The single and multi-point locks have the same lock case dimensions. Whether mechanical, motorised or handle-operated – the uniform dimensions guarantee easy installation and simple expansion of the lock system. The same main lock is used in the single-point lock as in the multi-point lock 819N, which achieves resistance class RC4 in suitable door systems. The optional IO module forms the interface to the building management system. Communication between the lock and IO module is encrypted and thus tamper-proof.