Till Oliver Kalähne the managing director of BPM gave a brief insight. BPM – BoB Planung und Management GmbH offers various architecture, project planning, energy efficiency, and management services complementary to their entire group of companies. Till manages BPM together with Andreas Irmler, Lutz Bebber, and Julius Kranefuss. BPM is responsible for project control, project controlling, and interim management of the entire luxury real estate projects of the corporate group.
On being selected as one of the 10 best companies in 2022 by SuccessKnocks, we interviewed Mr.Till Oliver Kalähne and the following are the excerpts from the interview:
What are the current trends you observe in today’s landscape that you serve? How is BPM positioned in concurrence with
those trends?
those trends?
The world is changing and that brings new challenges for all of us. So our focus is not only on realizing architecturally sophisticated properties but also on mastering the tasks and requirements with progressive and visionary solutions. Our goal is to provide the residents and users of our properties with a positive attitude to life and an economically stable, carefree future full of joy and genuine sustainability, and that is what sets us apart. BPM Planung und Management GmbH designs modern, liveable working and living spaces with future-oriented solutions. Our goal is to positively influence urban development.
Our new plus-energy quarters (N-ergy+) are not only sustainable but also produce more heating and cooling than is needed. This claim and the corresponding implementation have already been recognized in several projects by various institutions such as the FIABCI Prix d`Excellence Germany with an award for project developers. BPM Planung und Management is part of a corporate structure that offers 360-degree support. From the drawing to the finished building. One hand, one solution, one process.
What according to you is the advancement in this industry in terms of technology? Do you think it is your adoption of such
advanced technologies have brought you to this elite position?
advanced technologies have brought you to this elite position?
It would be still too easy for me simply to focus on new high-end technology as the universal answer to the challenges of our world in general. If there is no more human being involved what’s the fun to create and build? Of course, new technology like virtual reality and high-end previsualization 3D allows us to manage highly complex challenges in the design and function of the living and working spaces we create. Builders and architects worked with VR for a long time before it had its second wave of popularity. But the core vision of living space for example is still provided by the human being and not by artificial intelligence.
A machine simply has no vision still of how we need to adapt to the surroundings or how this street where we build our environment will develop in the future. The machine can simulate but it can not decide for us, which is another important point of process-orientated workflows. Responsibility is still a very important challenge that we can not leave to AI alone. So we´re still “in the mix”, take the best from every new adaption, and develop our digital tools to previsualize and build responsibly.
What is your opinion regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global industry? And how has your company managed to overcome this significant challenge?
For us at BPM working and living in the capital of Germany with a lot of international guests this worldwide development in the days of 2020 and 2021 became a challenge to take the chance for something we had in mind for quite a while. So as a response to the changes in all the environments brought about by COVID-19 under the label “SAFER THAN HOME”, we created a way to protect residential and commercial properties with flexibly deployable modules with a higher quality of stay that are safe from all hygienic aspects. In Berlin Neukölln the first serviced apartment building to be described by the media as an “anti-corona hotel” was built by us, the AERONAUT, recently certified by the German Hygiene Institute (DHI). Since then customers and long-stay clients from all over the world keep on giving us very positive feedback because they feel very safe and express this on all the platforms where we offer our serviced apartments.
Kindly elaborate on BPM’s XaaS. What is the change your platform is bringing into the marketplace?
T.K.: Web 2.0 has reached many service levels so we didn´t want to miss this opportunity for very transparent and flawless decision-making when it comes to the quality our customers wish for. From all the future assets we´re currently developing the visualization in the virtual reality of our client’s future apartments means a lot to us. We create it in-house from scratch. Our company HOME KLICK GmbH takes to care of this unique online development in which our clients can decide in peace and harmony about their desired interior design. They can freely configure flooring, baseboards, wall and ceiling paint, bathroom fixtures, and much more in the future so that they know where they´re going to live or what kind of apartment they want to provide for their residents. If Web 3.0 is ready for us we will provide long-term value and growth in attractive offers as well but for now, it is too early to see the long-term benefit in the future, but we watch the blockchain culture and the new world of cryptocurrencies.
What differentiates/separates your solutions from the rest of the competition? Why should a potential customer choose you over the others?
The customer is always invited to compare our visions and builds with those of other contractors. This remains the benefit of a free market and even our solutions will never directly claim to be perfect. We stand for diversity, not only in our construction projects in any form, presentation, and execution. Sustainability, the highest standards of our service quality, innovative challenging execution without fear of cost and time pressure to meet, is a luxury that is reflected in our work in all respects. Our 60 employees work reliably and constantly to improve our structures. Before we give anything out of hand, everything necessary has been done to include the highest and most forward-looking
innovation in it or, if necessary, to invent it ourselves. Our proof of concept currently is the AERONAUT in which people experience our high standards 24/7 in Berlin, one of the most beloved places in the world to experience its thrilling reality by day and night.
BPM has worked with several industries of different sizes. Please provide us with one or two case studies describing the challenges that your clients were facing and how your solutions helped them overcome those challenges.
Yes, of course. In our project Pestalozzistrasse 11, we had to refurbish that former old building from scratch to give it our vision of a brand new place to live in a highly profiled area of Berlin, Charlottenburg. The outcome for our clients means a lot of trust in their contractor´s vision and responsibility. So for 46 apartments in different sizes and equipment, this project would have meant: 46 special requests from our clients in consulting phone calls sometimes in the night, it would have meant all kinds of “couple therapy sessions” to ease the fear of the investment and sometimes other kinds of challenging situations coming during the construction and the contract making process. we work out this all with our mentioned virtual reality previsualization in which our clients can design at home in front of their computer and decide what kind of space they are expecting.
Kindly explain about BPM Customer Experience Strategy. How are your customers leveraging your solution and what are the outcomes?
We always advise our clients that they should check the location and the quality of the building or have it checked independently. Various factors influence the decision to buy. Will I use the flat myself or will it serve as an investment? Some of our projects like BORDEAUX at Pestalozzistrasse 11 serve both the buyer of their flat as well as the one searching for a significant investment. It´s a moderate area to live in and can provide young families with a long happy and healthy development. But we also provide places in which the client with actually no family plans will have vivid surroundings like our project VIVIENNE at Sophienstrasse 34. But on top, our clients can simply stay in our residence at AERONAUT or even AERONAUT SUITES for a wished time during a job or even a stayover with friends and family. We´ll provide all kinds of spaces for many different cases. The great feedback you`ll find not only in all the social media hubs we provide for our spaces and services.
What is your plan for your company and what more are you planning to offer your clients in the coming future?
We work on different ways to reach our customers. Our newest project is the luxury brand PEARL1 with our partners the restaurant MQ at Kurfürstendamm 160, Berlin, and AERONAUT SUITES we incorporate into that brand. PEARL1 LUXURY YACHTING will surprise you with a vocational dream come true on board our brand-new fleet of motor yachts we provide for our guests. in Spain, while PEARL 1 LIVING and HOSPITALITY connects your stayover if you are a CEO or business traveler, with your family or without, in a very homey experience.
Our AERONAUT SUITES provide all the high standard comfort that you are used to and believe me we will support you with a special service that is fresh and without any limits.
Thank you so much for giving us such great insight into the luxury real estate of Berlin with this interview, Mr.Kalähne. By the way: What does BOB?
That´s nice and quite easy to answer: BOB means Best of Berlin and this is what we stand for.
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