Rapid growth speaks for success. And it brings change. After exciting business years in 2018 and 2019, the time had finally come: our beloved company headquarters in the Rüdigergasse in Vienna's 5th district simply could no longer provide the necessary creative environment; the cramped quarters there had too often forced us to improvise. It was time for something new. And as we all know: such a change can be an unique opportunity but is always a critical moment as well. In this sense, experienced entrepreneurs explicitly point out the risk that both entrepreneurial and work life balance can easily get out of whack in that process. So we tried to take things carefully.

But indisputable, the first visit to our current headquarters left all of us excited and speechless. The astonishing halls, the surrounding infrastructure and, of course, the ideal location seemed just too perfect. At the same time, there were increasing and alarming indications in the worldwide news that a virus had been discovered that could fundamentally change and determine the way we live together for the next few years. However, both the change of location and the pandemic were still far away in those days. But both provoked uncertainty among those affected and those responsible for the coming, not everyday tasks. 2020: a challenging year in many ways.

Then it happened all very quickly: both the starting signal for the conversion and expansion of our new headquarters and the arrival of the pandemic in our city. Due to the privilege of not being very strongly affected by the crisis - neither health-wise nor economically - the following aspect may be a transfiguring look back, but the uniqueness of this situation brought extraordinary things to light: in a visual sense, mainly an experience of "emptiness": empty streets and squares in the city due to the lock down, empty hollow rooms in the still vacant new company headquarters, half-empty rooms in the old office – due to the shut-down and the necessity of home-office.

This emptiness was in some ways also reflected in the initially empty flipcharts at the beginning of the company retreat in the summer of 2020. But then something changed. We began to rethink the situation. And tried to understand the ubiquitous emptiness as a form of free space; a space in which the new could be inscribed: new furniture in the empty rooms, new ideas on empty flipcharts, new structures in the company organization, new forms of relationships with colleagues, neighbors and friends. In that way this summer was a time of reinvention: for our company organization as well as social and societal structures.

Almost a year has passed since the retreat. A productive year that we have used to completely reorient ourselves and finally turn long-cherished ideas into reality. This of course includes our new headquarters, which has finally taken on its new, modernized form in the middle of the 3rd district. The spectacular facade of the historic structure – the so called "Fabricatur", built at the beginning of the 20th century by the architect Max Fabiani - is still in its original state. The eye-catching tiles and window boxes of the upper floors are all still preserved.

The entire interior has been renovated and modernized. The historical components were not hidden but deliberately brought to light and are witnesses of the industrial revolution at the beginning of the 20th century. We have continued to pursue this concept of openness, transparency and preservation of the cultural heritage for our new office space; the decades-old concrete and remnants of the historic brick walls remain the defining architectural statement through the use of lots of glass and a balanced lighting concept.

Now in 2021, the emptiness of the past year is gradually beginning to fill. This also applies to our new headquarters which - within the framework of the Corona Ordinances - is slowly coming to life. Fortunately, we were even able to expand with some new members who will enrich our SIMStation team with many new skills and ideas. The new rooms and open workspaces begin to fulfil their intended function: to provide space for working, for productive exchange, for collegial togetherness. The realized opportunity to communicate efficiently, exchange ideas and create something new together - this all is not only true for our new office, but also for the brand new SIMStation website.

In addition to a lot of useful information about the SIMStation range and its product lines, the new SIMStation website takes on the function of an agile platform that enables and supports the lively exchange of SIMStation and its customers and distributors through dedicated access areas with numerous additional functions. And to be honest … these exciting renewals are just the beginning. Yes, one year passed and, thankfully, many things have been renewed. But there are still a few surprises to come. More details and insights about all this exciting news and the All New SIMStation you will find here in the following weeks. So stay tuned! Or inscribe to our regular newsletter!