Louis has conquered the tallest mountains. Now, he’s traversing new heights as a construction manager.

The town of Vaterstetten, with its grandiose Alpine panorama, is a place of peace and relaxation. Louis’ passion for his hometown is clear. “Bavaria is just so central in Europe. From here you can be at the warm sea in a few hours, or 4000 metres high in the most adverse conditions. Especially in Bavaria and Munich, the people are very direct. You know immediately where you stand. That can be tough but it’s also a good way to work on yourself and your decisions.” While many people enjoy the view of the mountains from a platform, Louis is often found standing at the summit in freezing temperatures, racing down the white slopes or shimmying along the rocks at dizzying heights. His passion for all mountain sports, including skiing, mountain biking and climbing, started in his early childhood.

Louis explains: “I love to push myself to the limit and the highest level. My job eats up a lot of time and nerves. The tasks are usually very demanding and require a clear head. You are constantly under pressure, mistakes can have big consequences, and you must be aware of that. I've already learned that through the fire brigade, there can be a very fine line between life and death. Even in the job, success depends on many decisions that you often have to make quickly and under high pressure. You also have that in the mountains. To reach something with pure physical strength without technical help, apart from equipment, inspires me. From up there you have such a clear head, and you can only concentrate on the moment you’re in. All other problems and stresses are suddenly so small and irrelevant, it helps you to come back down to earth.” He adds: “But to achieve that, you have to make sure you’ve protected the nature.”

After Louis completed secondary school as one of the top students in the county, all doors were open to him. Like many young people, he was faced with the question of which career path to take. “I initially considered completing a vocational baccalaureate in economics. But after the trial period of six months, I knew that it was not what I wanted. My father advised that I something ‘sensible’, so I decided to train as a carpenter.”

Louis joined a small family business. ISG was a long-standing customer of this business and even during his apprenticeship, Louis supervised orders for ISG projects. Due to the absence of a colleague, Louis got the opportunity to supervise ISG’s orders full time. He then began to join meetings with international clients. "It was a great feeling to work alongside international construction services company like ISG, and as a 21-year-old to sit in a meeting room with big bosses from the most well-known US tech companies.”

He thoroughly enjoyed working as a carpenter and even received an opportunity to do a Master's Degree in carpentry. Despite his excellent work record and qualifications, he decided against pursuing the degree. "I knew I didn't want to work as a carpenter forever and wanted to develop professionally in a different direction." At the same time, he got the opportunity to work as a site manager at ISG. Shotaro Morikawa, a Project Manager at ISG who worked closely with Louis, highly recommended him. Shotaro says: "Louis has great technical expertise and is knowledgeable about the various trades. When we were looking for reinforcements in construction management for our complex fit-out projects, we quickly realised that we had to get Louis to join ISG.”

Louis officially joined ISG in August 2022 as a Construction Manager, supporting the Munich team on two major projects for international US technology corporations. The largest interior fit-out projects to date in Europe, they include a €185m project in a listed building in Munich. And to these jobs, Louis has bought his values of sustainability. “Our customers rely on LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). ISG are already trying to be CO2 neutral ourselves in a few years, as are many of our customers. I am happy to be able to support this, not only in theory but also in practice and execution on site. It’s so important.” 

Through his training as a carpenter, Louis has the necessary know-how about the materials used and can quickly identify possible planning errors. With his practical experience as a subcontractor, he wants to improve transparent communication with traders. "Having worked with ISG as a partner myself before, I know the interfaces with the trades very well and I want to help implement projects as cost- and time-efficiently as possible with the available resources, by working even more closely with our trades.”

What excites him most is the family atmosphere in the team and the cooperation with the different cultures, both within ISG and with clients. "I work closely with our UK project managers as well as international clients, partners, architects and subcontractors. It is a great privilege to work with so many different cultures.” 

Louis is looking to develop into a Project Manager at ISG in the coming years. To do this, he plans to catch up on the required qualifications by attending night school. With his passion for the environment, technical expertise, and ambition, there are no limits to his next career step. 

Published on the 26th of October 2023.