A strong partner Handler Construction

A STRONG PARTNER

This year the Austrian building company Handler Construction is celebrating its 150th anniversary. Managing director Markus Handler told us how the company combines tradition and experience with a forward-looking attitude.

The highest competence levels, a modern infrastructure and cutting-edge machines – these are what make the Bad Schönau-based building specialists successful in a multitude of projects, from private dwellings and commercial properties to a range of municipal developments.

The company, which achieves a turnover of over €60 million, boasts its own fleet of vehicles and undertakes most of its building projects in the wider area of Vienna, in southern lower Austria and eastern Austria.

150 years of tradition

The success story of Handler Construction started in 1862, when Josef Handler founded a carpentry business. This was handed on from son to grandson and finally to Walter Handler, who had been running his own building company since 1962. The carpentry business was integrated into the building company, and one of its first major contracts was the refurbishment of the prestigious luxury Hotel Sacher in Vienna in 1978. Continuing the family’s passion for the building sector is his son Markus Handler, who has been leading the enterprise since 2007.

Handler Construction builds residential houses, multiple-occupancy dwellings and commercial, industrial and agricultural buildings. In addition, refurbishments, alterations, loft conversions and more are undertaken. “Most of our customers for homes and agricultural buildings are private individuals, while

municipalities and businesses are the target group for the urban projects,” says Mr Handler. “We offer either one or all of the following services: master builder work, carpentry work, roofing and sheet metal or plumbing works. We can also help with the planning stage or act as general contractors.”

Extending the service portfolio

Over the years the company has not stood still, but has developed, modernised and expanded the facilities, most recently in a complete rebuild of the premises in Bad Schönau in 2000. Today around 300 employees are working there, joined by a regular contingent of highly motivated young apprentices.

The company’s headquarters house the wood construction facilities, logistics areas and the administrative facilities. Large investments are underway, in the shape of a new production facility for the carpentry unit which is due to open in 2013 and will be located about 20km away. All construction will be moved there, and with its range of new machines the company will start to produce wooden building elements there.

Challenging projects

Some recent projects are particularly suited to demonstrating the high level of expertise that customers can expect from Handler Construction. For a spa and hotel in Lutzmannsburg, Handler Construction carried out wood construction works that included the refurbishment of the pyramid roof, and managed to complete eight building phases in the extremely short period of nine weeks. Logistical problems had to be overcome where some of the sites were more than 100 metres away from navigable roads – leading to the complex use of crane technology.

As a general contractor Handler Construction led the completion of the financial centre in St Pölten – a particularly challenging project in terms of architecture and statics based near the river Danube.

Specialist knowledge was also required for the building works on the Burg Perchtoldsdorf castle, which turned a historical castle into an events centre. Some of the works had to be carried out right beneath the foundations, and many of the existing segments had to be secured.

Another accomplishment was the construction of a residential complex in Vienna with 21 apartment buildings, completed in a record building time.

Handler Construction even managed to find a solution for building works on a piece of land that was solely accessible from the nearby lake, at a house in an eastern Austrian lake. To construct this unique new weekend home in a bay, the determined experts worked from a boat for the first building phase of construction, and used wooden poles to anchor the building in the lake.

Building a future for the business

“Our future plans include a stronger presence in the timber construction market, which is why we are investing in our own construction facility for wooden building elements,” says Mr Handler. In order to further future-proof the business Handler Construction is currently implementing a process optimisation systems and IT support structures.

“We aim for organic growth, and we see many opportunities for our company due to the increased demand for timber constructions. We also see much potential in extending our property development activities, in addition to our construction services, to make the company less dependent on the fluctuating demand in the building sector.”

Over the next few years the company is working on further optimisation of all business processes, with the aim of responding quicker to market developments. n