Successful duo: floor and basketball

After a 20-month construction period, the Orange Campus opened as one of the largest youth and performance centers in basketball in all of Europe. It offers 300 jobs on approximately 12,500 m2 of floor space and is owned by the Ulmer Basketball Club BBU'01. The UZIN UTZ Group, a full-service provider for floor systems, has been a partner of the successful Bundesliga club ratiopharm ulm since 2014 and has been the anchor partner of the Orange Campus since construction began. The 18,000 m2 site on the Danube River includes three training halls, offices, meeting and conference rooms, indoor and outdoor restaurants, a fitness center and a freely accessible outdoor sports park for all citizens. UZIN UTZ products were used on almost all the flooring - laid by regional flooring specialists.

BBU'01 and UZIN UTZ not only share a passion for success, but also a perfect floor as a basis. "Dynamism, motivation and emotion are virtues of sport that fit our company perfectly", says Philipp Utz, CEO of the UZIN UTZ Group. "Our aim is to offer our customers the best expertise in safe flooring installation - and, as is well known, nothing works in basketball without safe floors. We are proud to support the Orange Campus project with our flooring expertise".

Bundled ground expertise at the Orange Campus 

From the foyer, a striking anthracite-colored Arturo design floor runs across all traffic areas to the restaurant and store. As an eye-catcher in the club color orange it marks the sponsor wall 'Wall of fan' with the integrated motto 'We are one'. 699 donors have immortalized themselves here by name and thus made an important contribution to the financing of the new campus. Training floors, carpet tiles and hard-wearing design tiles in an authentic wood look from Project Floors were laid in offices, fitness and wellness areas with matching Uzin adhesive. And in commercial kitchens, installation materials from Codex demonstrate their expertise in the field of waterproofing. The flooring work was carried out by companies from the region - such as Rauer Bau- und Betonsanierung and Rang-Fußboden aus Blaustein, who expertly laid a wide variety of floor coverings and applied cement levelling compound on over 5,000 m2 .

Common values

However, the UZIN UTZ Group is not only represented with its products on the floor of the new performance and training center, but also in the naming of the UZIN UTZ Court and the Dr. Utz meeting room. In the future, the premises can also be used for internal company events in a special atmosphere. "The willingness to always give the best applies to athletes as well as to our employees", says Julian Utz, also a member of the board of directors of the UZIN UTZ Group and member of the advisory board at BBU'01, "In addition to endurance and performance, fun should not be missing". With its commitment the UZIN UTZ Group underlines its solidarity with the region and wants to inspire young basketball fans as an employer and training partner.

Success needs good floor

"Success needs good floor" was the name of the campaign with which the partnership between UZIN UTZ and BBU'01 began in 2014.  Since then it has brought the cooperation partner of the Bundesliga club ratiopharm ulm many baskets, enthusiasm and great sporting spirit. So-called "Wiper Kids" ensure that the parquet flooring in the ratiopharm arena in Ulm remains free of the risk of injury from sweat marks. „At UZIN UTZ, the topic of responsibility does not stop with the products," explains board member Julian Utz, "it includes not only the economic but also the social level - comprehensive employee development programs, modern working time models and much more. With the seven brands UZIN, Wolff, Pallmann, Arturo, codex, RZ and Pajarito the world-wide only complete offerer for flooring systems offers a comprehensive assortment at products, systems, tools and services approximately around the new installation, renovation and preservation of value of floor coverings of all kinds.

A campus for all sports and basketball enthusiasts

The heart of the building, which was planned by the architects Scherr+Klimke AG from Ulm, consists of three training halls, in which games for young teams can take place under professional conditions. The largest offers space for 500 spectators, two of them have a direct connection to the fitness center, which extends over three floors. "Short distances" is also the motto for the catering area. Sportsmen and visitors can enjoy healthy food and a sense of community with a view of the park and river. Modelled on the youth centers of the German Soccer League, the Orange Campus is to become a showcase project for youth basketball work throughout Germany and Europe. The concept is rounded off by outdoor sports facilities that are available to all citizens. Since a large part of the existing vegetation has been preserved, the Orange Campus is also a Green Campus.