History

Paul Keller Sen. founds a joinery for interior fit-out in Schönenberg. That is where the Erich Keller story begins: with an understanding of materials, craft precision and the ambition to deliver spaces cleanly and durably.

An aluminium design kitchen shows early on that Erich Keller is looking for more than solid workmanship. Design, material and function become part of the company’s own standards.

Erich Keller develops the first workstation for trading floors. A new competence grows out of the joinery: specialised workstations for environments in which ergonomics, technology and overview have to come together.

With the new building in Sulgen, production space grows to 1,500 m². At the same time Erich Keller takes over the company, which from then on is called Erich Keller AG. Sulgen becomes the base for planning, production and development from a single source.

A trading desk destined for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia marks the first order from abroad. Erich Keller’s specialised workstations become internationally relevant.

The first patent for a communication workstation shows that Erich Keller develops not just furniture but its own system solutions for technically demanding working environments.

Erich Keller expands the Sulgen site to 4,000 m² of production space and becomes the first joinery in Switzerland to produce with CNC machines. Shortly afterwards comes another pioneering achievement: the first 5-axis CNC machine in a Swiss joinery.

With V-Com, the first modular communication workstation with an integrated climate system is created. For the first time, workstation, technology and climate are consistently combined in one system.

At Bayerische Landesbank in Munich, Erich Keller installs the world’s first enclosed communication workstation with a curved screen front. The export share rises to over 50 %.

With Cool-Top, Erich Keller develops the world’s first workstation cooling directly at the heat source. The solution arises from a concrete need: the technology in trading and communication workstations generates heat that has to be removed precisely.

With Riotherm, a sill unit for a high level of climate comfort is created. The expertise gained from desk cooling develops further: away from the individual workstation and towards energy-efficient climate technology in the room.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin chooses Riotherm to provide the climate control for its ecological office building. Erich Keller shows that climate technology, architecture and energy efficiency can be thought through together.

Erich Keller wins the “active transfer units” product competition run by the City of Zurich and the Minergie association. Comfort ventilation integrated into doors provides a pleasant indoor climate in every room.

At the Swisscom Businesspark in Ittigen, Erich Keller delivers a forward-looking climate solution for a building with space for 2,000 employees. The project combines energy efficiency, comfort and cost-effectiveness at a high level and was awarded the Prix Watt d’Or in 2016.

As part of Bank Cler’s repositioning, 31 branches across Switzerland are refitted in just 36 hours after the pilot branch. The project shows what precise planning, manufacturing and installation can achieve in combination.

In response to increased requirements for hygiene and indoor air quality, Erich Keller develops Steri products for air disinfection. The recirculation units work with powerful UV-C emitters and can reduce microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria in the air. The technology can be integrated into Riotherm Convec as well as into Cool-Top systems for workplace solutions.

In a management buyout, the executive management takes over all company shares. Markus Neff, Pascal Thür, Reto Wägli, Adrian Stacher and Urs Mauchle become the new owners of Erich Keller AG. The company’s future thus remains entrepreneurial, long-term and closely anchored in its own operations.

Erich Keller delivers the furniture for 116 new Swisscom shops. The Retina shop concept sets a new benchmark in the Swiss telco market and demonstrates its capability in rolling interior fit-out programmes.

With the new Talky product family, interior fit-out, furniture and ventilation expertise combine into a modular room-in-room system. Talky becomes a flexible component of open office floors and creates space for focus, exchange and retreat.

After years of strong growth, Erich Keller expands its production space further, to a new total of 13,500 m². The Sulgen site thus remains the industrial and craft base for larger projects and broader expertise.

Following several years of exceptional growth, the management structure is being broadened. Marc Huber is taking over operational management as CEO. Lucas Eggenberger, Rico Lambro and Christoph Diem will be responsible for key areas of business in production, workplace solutions and air-conditioning technology. Adrian Stacher will remain closely associated with the company as Head of Interior Fitting. At the same time, strategic continuity on the Board of Directors is maintained: Markus Neff, Urs Mauchle, Reto Wägli (Chairman), Adrian Stacher and Pascal Thür – who jointly implemented the management buy-out in 2021 – will continue to guide the company’s future development.

Erich Keller renews its brand identity – not its identity as such. The new visual appearance makes visible what the company has become: more broadly positioned, more clearly defined and ready to bring the entire portfolio together under one strong brand.
This also includes a clearer product logic for the workplace solutions: Axis, Orbit, Orbit Polar, Zenith and Zenith Polar harmonise the line-up and make proven technology easier to understand.

The climate technology is reorganised under the Riotherm system brand. Established product lines become a comprehensible system of comfort, energy efficiency, architecture, control and integration. Riotherm Ctrl is established as a connecting system layer above the existing lines.

The owners of Erich Keller AG purchase the property and the land. This lays an important foundation for meeting further growth and the rising demands on production and office space. The success story continues – in Sulgen, with more room for new tasks.