Foundation Stone Laid: Construction of the New Company Headquarters Making Progress
- Construction work on schedule
- Completion planned for 2021
- CEO Dr. Elmar Degenhart: “It is on the foundations of our corporate culture that we are constructing our new company headquarters”
Visualization of the new company headquarters with a bridge spanning Hans-Böckler-Allee. Viewed from the Pferdeturm intersection.
Hanover, May 8, 2019. Continental has laid the foundation stone for its new company headquarters in Hanover. CEO Dr. Elmar Degenhart and Executive Board members Dr. Ariane Reinhart and Wolfgang Schäfer hosted Wednesday’s ceremony at the construction site on Hans-Böckler-Allee. As such, construction work is right on schedule.
An important part of the ceremony was the copper time capsule, which was placed inside the symbolic foundation stone and contains a piece of rubber from the tire production facilities, the latest Continental employee magazine and the core component of the electric vehicle power electronics developed and series-produced by Continental. These objects symbolize both the roots and the future of the technology company. Once the base had been sealed with a concrete slab, the members of the Executive Board rounded off the event by delivering the ceremonial hammer blows.
Dr. Elmar Degenhart, Dr. Ariane Reinhart and Wolfgang Schäfer with the time capsule.
“The automotive industry is undergoing the biggest change it has experienced since its inception, and we are doing our bit to shape this change. In doing so, we are undergoing our own change,” said Degenhart at the ceremony. “In the future, we will work and collaborate differently. We will give our employees greater flexibility. We will help them to organize their own working patterns and collaborate across divisions. To achieve this, we will be optimizing their workplaces. Our corporate culture and our four values are the foundations for this. It is on the foundations of our corporate culture that we are constructing our new company headquarters. Its architectural design is open. It will have connecting sections and areas where people can get together, just as cities have their streets and plazas. And just as cities have houses, our new headquarters will have areas for retreat and concentration. This is how we promote networked, flexible and trust-based work and our spirit of togetherness.”
Open and interconnected architecture
Dr. Elmar Degenhart, Dr. Ariane Reinhart and Wolfgang Schäfer ceremonially striking the foundation stone with hammers.
The new company headquarters were designed by Munich-based architecture firm HENN and will contain enough space for 1,250 employees, with reserve space available for increasing capacity to 1,600 at some point in the future. The company site will comprise multiple buildings distributed across two campuses to the north and south of Hans-Böckler-Allee, close to the Pferdeturm. Linking the buildings on the northern and southern campuses will be a series of pedestrian overpasses, the longest of which – at 71 meters – will be a column-free bridge spanning Hans-Böckler-Allee. This underscores the urban significance of the building ensemble as an impressive showcase welcoming visitors as they arrive in this modern and progressive city. Green spaces, a health center and an in-house day-care center are further elements that will enable employees to find a healthy balance between work and leisure. The site will also offer sufficient parking spaces for cars and bicycles in two parking garages.
Open-space office design
The contents of the time capsule: a piece of rubber from the tire production facilities, the latest Continental employee magazine and the core component of the electric vehicle power electronics developed and series-produced by Continental.
The work environment in the new headquarters will be characterized by an open-space design throughout, featuring state-of-the-art technical equipment. “Openness and interconnectedness encourage agile and flexible team collaboration and cross-divisional communication,” says Dr. Ariane Reinhart. Continental has built a special test space – the Workspace Lab – on the plant premises of the current company headquarters. Covering 330 m2, it simulates the spatial concept, complete with all the planned furnishings, and gives employees the opportunity to familiarize themselves right now with their future work environment. “Our Workspace Lab not only is a fine example of employee participation, but also embodies our understanding of the future world of work in an innovative environment here at Continental,” says Reinhart.
Completion scheduled for late 2021
Construction of the basic structure for the new, global headquarters began back in March 2019, and the first few basement walls are already in place. Completion of the basic structure is to be celebrated at a topping-out ceremony scheduled for late 2019 / early 2020, while final completion of the entire building is scheduled to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Continental in 2021.
Sven Klingelhöfer
Locations and Project Communications
