Volksbank Hamm

Planning and fitting out of the consultancy and event centre

In a cooperative bank the customers are also its shareholders. Members are empowered to enter into a dialogue with the banker who in turn acts as an operative consultant with regard to members’ finances.

The new consultancy and event centre is proof of the fact that the Volksbank Hamm takes seriously its obligation to provide its members with information and transparency. At the centre, consultancy and training for members is provided in the form of seminars, the so-called “money schools”, and basic information is supplied in a multimedia exhibition in the specially constructed event tower.
Volksbank Hamm’s exhibition on finance and banking combines entertainment and information. The subject is treated in increasing detail in several didactic stages. The further one goes into the exhibition, the more exhaustive the information becomes. The exhibition starts with an introduction to the topics of "Cooperatives, Community, Public Welfare", focusing on the relationship between the bank and its members.
The second part of the exhibition deals with the perspective of individual members, highlighting their dreams, aspirations and needs. The way the bank responds to each member’s particular situation is shown in the form of overviews of asset goals and corresponding banking products. The question, “How does a cooperative bank actually work?” is at the heart of the final part of the exhibition which explains the system that governs the financial world. A social history of money helps visitors understand the role of cooperative banks in today’s society. In addition, an illustration of the most important relationships within the financial system helps them find their way around this complex and highly topical subject.
Besides the media infrastructure for the exhibition, checkpointmedia has also created a number of multimedia stations (concept and content design: Martin Burkhardt, Büro für Gestaltung, Baden-Baden). These include:
The members’ matrix: a monitor, split into various segments, shows a number of creative contributions from members (photos, videos, etc.), which emphasize that the bank is a community of members who help shape the bank and its development.
One of seven “asset goal balls”, with mini-sculptures portraying various asset goals according to which the bank classifies its products has been combined with multimedia elements.
Bubble art: using gestures and movements, visitors can produce graphic effects inside the projected image and can “juggle” with them. This installation points out in engaging fashion that one cannot fulfill all one’s dreams at once. The bank offers advice on how to keep an eye on all the possibilities available to members.
The periscope: the periscope shows a 360-degree panorama shot from the roof of the competence centre. In the photo, every branch of Volksbank Hamm and all the places of interest in Hamm are marked with a pin. Zooming in to a pin opens up pictures that show the branch or the place of interest in more detail.
The “wish-worlds”: Using a green box studio, visitors can project themselves into a number of wishful situations. The bank’s consultant can then take a screenshot of it, upload it to the monitor in his office and use it to break the ice at the interview.
Sliding monitor on the subject of “interest-rate development”: A large flat-screen monitor moves along the wall of the room, covering a distance of eight meters. As it passes along, it displays the way the interest rate develops: What effect do the loan’s term and accrued interest have on a loan or a savings account opened for a child that will run until he or she retires? The screen moves automatically once the topic has been selected and has an auto-return and automatic stop function (e.g. if a visitor knocks into it).