The project manager is the main point of contact for the client, handling all external communications. We visit the client or the architect, discuss the projects, then pass everything on internally and oversee the entire project. I work a lot with Jürgen Kalcher, who handles the designs. Often, we take a hand-drawn sketch and turn it into a full project. What I really enjoy is that we develop something together. It starts with a blank sheet of paper and must be consistent in the end. Along the way, we keep checking in, refining details, and coming up with solutions. We push each other with ideas. And when you see the finished product, it is incredibly satisfying.

I am a trained carpenter. I spent a long time in builiding yachts, working a lot abroad. Then I went back to school at the Ortweinschule, followed by the master craftsman exam. Between the first and second year, I worked at Josef Göbel. That is how I ended up here. I have worked in a lot of companies, even some very well-known ones. But somehow, here I felt more at home because there is more freedom to work. You have the chance to develop yourself. Nobody knows everything off the top of their head. You have to learn everything, and you grow with the tasks. But as I said, there is a lot of freedom here.

One project that was a huge challenge, really cool, and totally different in terms of the task at hand, was the penthouse in New York. It was a cool story in terms of location and design. The first challenge was that we could not even enter the country because of the pandemic. We had to do everything over Teams until we finally got the green light to go. Then I flew to New York. The construction site was not really set up to develop base furniture, so we built everything on a stud-wall system. Plus, we did not install the furniture ourselves.

We produced everything here, assembled it, inspected it, and then packed it into containers to ship. We decided to build the entire project like a puzzle. We drew out all the contours, then developed the interior to fit together like a puzzle, complete with part labeling, and then routed every connection to fit. This way, we pre-defined the contours so they could simply install it. I have to say, there was not a single follow-up order.

Yes, with the Pierers. They have been doing this for 20 years, running a marathon once a year. It all started at a celebration. I had to give a speech, and when I came back, they were all standing at the bar—Alfred (Pierer) and everyone who worked on the project. They said, "We are running a marathon, and you are running with us." Of course, I said yes. It is an honor to be invited to something like that by a client. But then, you are also waking up at four in the morning for two hours of training (laughs).