Employee apartment block – Excellent work by apprentices
November 28, 2024 | Markus Lackner
Getting hands-on experience and knowing what you have achieved at the end of the day was a valuable experience for the twelve apprentices involved in the construction work. Specifically, the apprenticeships in building construction, civil engineering and concrete construction, office management, construction technology assistance and surveying technology were involved in the construction work. "This training workshop provides everyone with an excellent opportunity to deepen their knowledge and work together on a project for a common future," emphasises Stefan Hielle, Managing Director of Construction. In addition, this method of maximising practical training also offers young people the opportunity to become team players.
Enjoying the training
“It was a lot of fun,” the apprentices from the office and skilled trades agree. Max, a building and concrete construction apprentice, elaborates: “For me, the fact that I also came into contact with bricks in the training workshop and was able to lay bricks was a positive experience”. For Medina, who is now in her second year as a construction assistant, it was particularly gratifying to see all the apprentices come together: “It also allowed us to learn from one another”. The budding specialists were not only able to expand their knowledge on the construction site, though. They also enjoyed the excursions to suppliers. For example, the young people also gained insight into the advantages and disadvantages of different formwork systems from a manufacturer.
Apprentice representative Christine Wimmer and site manager Robert Grundner started to prepare and plan the comprehensive project in advance. The challenge at the very start was to coordinate the dates with the participants: “We started with the parents and then informed all site managers, executives, trainers and apprentices about the project”. Grunder made it his mission to give the budding construction professionals as much practical experience as possible. For example, he reworked plans that had already been finalised and replaced concrete walls with brick walls. Brick is seldom used in industrial construction, as we predominantly do, but our apprentices should also be able to manage this. Site foreman Jasmin Zulkic was initially sceptical about the approach taken by the training workshop: “When thinking about the construction site safety, I had reservations about being in a position to put this into practice, but thanks to thorough preparation and the division into groups with team leaders, we quickly came up with good solutions”. The team leaders for this were also chosen by apprentices. Max was one of them. His experience: “Sometimes it's difficult to motivate people,” but he still doesn't know whether he actually wants to take on a management role one day. But first of all, he has to complete his training.
Fast construction work
Starting with the earthworks last November, the construction work made rapid progress. As a result, the basement and the floor slab of the upper floor, which measures 300 square metres, had already been completed by the turn of the year. The formwork and concrete works for the ground floor followed at the outset of the year. The shell construction for the first floor was completed by the end of April and the interior work was set to start. In June, for example, apprentices from the Structural Engineering department were working on the construction site with the drywall builders from Felbermayr subsidiary Phon Akustikbau. This is a key aspect of this training workshop: “We want our future skilled workers to become all-round construction site professionals,” says Hielle, adding: “It's important to me that the structural engineer, for example, understands the work of the drywall builder and can therefore make their job easier. Completion is set for autumn 2024. The apprentices will also be involved in the exterior design and the installation of the full thermal insulation.
Nothing has yet been set in stone as to whether one of the apprentices - after completing their training - will also be able to move into one of the 76 high-quality residential units that will be available for external employees as of January next year. It is a fact, however, that this type of training workshop forms a solid foundation for the future of budding construction professionals. It is still not clear which construction project will be next. Hielle comments:
“Let's see”.
Up-to-date information about the construction progress at a glance
