Haniel: From corporate headquarters to future campus: how Haniel reimagined Franz-Haniel-Platz

Anyone walking across Franz-Haniel-Platz today sees at first glance a place steeped in history: the 1756 "Packhaus," the listed main administration building, well-established structures, old pathways, and plenty of greenery. But look more closely and you will notice that something new has emerged here in recent years.

Haniel’s traditional corporate headquarters has become a modern business campus – with flexible workspaces, energy-efficient supply systems, professional event spaces, award-winning gastronomy, and a guest house currently undergoing modernisation. A location deeply rooted in Haniel’s history, while clearly demonstrating how the company envisions its future: open, sustainable, and connected.

“We wanted not merely to preserve the campus, but to continue writing its history,” says Christian Ridder, Head of Campus Management. “Franz-Haniel-Platz is a special place – for Haniel, but also for Ruhrort. That is precisely why it was important to us to develop it in a way that keeps it relevant in the future.”

Haniel and Franz-Haniel-Platz have belonged together for more than 270 years. In 1756, Jan Willem Noot had the "Packhaus" built outside the gates of the port town of Ruhrort – a combined residential and storage building, today home to the Haniel Museum (read the story). In the early 1920s, the main administration building followed. Over decades, an ensemble of office buildings, residential houses, streets, and green spaces grew up around these structures – until 1986, when the “Franz-Haniel-Platz” was completed as an integrated corporate headquarters. Today, the site is considerably more: a campus that combines working, encounters, events, and exchange.

Around 2020, Haniel faced a fundamental question: how can a historically developed site with eleven individual buildings from very different construction periods be further developed to suit modern ways of working, new energy efficiency requirements, and changing usage needs?

The answer was not a single construction project, but a comprehensive transformation. Haniel modernized existing buildings, reduced its own space requirements through hybrid working models, and opened the campus to additional companies.

Today, around 50 percent more people work at Franz-Haniel-Platz than in 2019 – spread across approximately 30 companies. Members of the campus community include Norwegian technology company HydrogenPro, Belgian company SeaFar specializing in remote-controlled and crew-reduced inland shipping, the co-creation lab Place Beyond Bytes of the University of Duisburg-Essen, and the Impact Factory, Germany’s largest incubator and accelerator for green and social start-ups.

One of the greatest challenges lay beneath the surface – or more precisely, in the energy supply. The campus is not a new development on a greenfield site, but a historically grown ensemble of buildings from different eras, serving various purposes and partly subject to heritage protection requirements.

“The complexity of the site was the real challenge,” says Henrik Reineke, Lead Campus Services. “Every building has its own specific conditions. That is why a standard solution was not sufficient.”

Building modernization and energy supply were therefore considered together from the outset. After initial efficiency measures such as LED retrofitting and intelligent energy management, the comprehensive transformation of the supply system began in 2022.

Today, modern photovoltaic and PVT systems on the rooftops generate green electricity. This powers high-performance heat pumps that supply the campus with heating and cooling. District heating, district cooling, and ice-storage systems supplement the setup. The goal: to significantly reduce dependence on fossil fuels and CO₂ emissions, and to position the site for long-term efficiency.

“It was important not to view the individual components in isolation,” explains Henrik Reineke. “Photovoltaics, heat pumps, cooling supply, and storage interlock. Only together do they form a system that operates efficiently while taking the specific characteristics of the site into account.”

For the buildings themselves, Haniel deliberately chose further development over demolition. A visible example is the fully modernized corporate headquarters “NewOne.” Since April 2023, the Haniel team has been benefiting from the advantages of the former main administration building. There, a working environment was created with flexibly selectable zones, lounges, meeting rooms, phone booths, and a bar as the central meeting point. NewOne is therefore not only a workplace, but also a venue for exchange, lectures, and internal events.

As the campus opened up, the events offering followed the same guiding principle: to keep the entrepreneurial heritage visible while providing conference rooms, gastronomy, and accommodation from a single source. The former Haniel Akademie is now known as the Aletta Haniel Forum, and the restaurant as Siebzehn56. External companies and organizations can already use the conference rooms and catering facilities here today. With the newly redesigned Aletta Haniel Guest House, opening from October 2026, the offering will be expanded to include high-quality overnight accommodation.

The visible namesake is Aletta Haniel, the mother of industrial pioneer Franz Haniel. As a widow and mother of four, she managed the operations of the Ruhrort business between 1782 and 1809 – and opened up important new fields of business. According to Christian Ridder, she embodies entrepreneurial courage, foresight, and a determination to shape the future like no other – values that continue to define the character of the Forum and are intended to form the foundation for exchange and forward-looking work.

The campus team aims to carry this spirit into its offering for guests. Whether conference, seminar, offsite, or congress – the rooms are designed to adapt to any format, from small working groups to large-scale events. Companies book not merely a room, but a comprehensive all-inclusive package: organization, hybrid meeting technology, and catering are all included, so that guests can focus entirely on their content.

“Many venues offer rooms,” says Christian Ridder. “What sets our location apart is the special character of this campus.” Where entrepreneurial courage wrote history 270 years ago, space is now being created for new ideas. “Our guests feel this atmosphere – and take it with them.”

Another key element is the restaurant Siebzehn56. Between December 2024 and April 2025, the restaurant underwent a fundamental redesign. New furnishings and revised acoustics create a cozy atmosphere for lingering, while a modern kitchen behind the scenes ensures freshly prepared meals. The centerpiece of the offering is two daily-changing, freshly cooked main courses – accompanied by fresh soup, salad, and desserts. When the weather is fine, the green outdoor area directly on the Haniel Campus also invites guests to enjoy their lunch break in the open air.

“Siebzehn56 is aimed not only at employees, tenants, and event guests, but also at external lunchtime visitors from the surrounding area,” says Christian Ridder. The food team serves around 250 people with fresh meals daily.

A recent accolade underlines the high standards of Siebzehn56: in the 2026 Kantinentest (staff restaurant review) by the Food & Health initiative, the staff restaurant was selected as one of Germany’s best. Nationwide, it is among the 37 award-winning locations; in North Rhine-Westphalia, it ranks among the top 8, and it is the only award-winning staff restaurant in the Ruhr region. The jury awarded four red stars – a four-star-plus level – and described Siebzehn56 as a “culinary highlight that brings the campus to life and attracts new tenants.”

Show Kantinentest

The transformation of Franz-Haniel-Platz demonstrates how a historically grown site can be reimagined – without losing its origins. Haniel did not opt for new construction and radical change, but for refurbishment, openness, and intelligent further development.

The result is a campus that operates with greater economic independence, attracts new companies, enables events, and brings life to the Duisburg district of Ruhrort. At the same time, Franz-Haniel-Platz remains a special place for Haniel.

“The campus stands for what has always defined Haniel: preserving what is valuable – and developing it further so that it can become the future,” as Christian Ridder sums it up.