Today’s groundbreaking ceremony marks the start of the construction of the first module of Siemens Campus Erlangen. A completely new urban district is now set to arise in the southern part of Erlangen, Germany, Siemens’ largest location worldwide. Scheduled for completion in 2030, the campus will include a hotel, restaurants and service operations as well as office buildings. In keeping with the location’s future role as an international research and development center, guests at the ceremony were given a first impression of the future campus in a virtual 3D tour.
The Nuremburg metropolitan area to which Erlangen belongs is already one of Germany’s most important innovation hubs. Siemens projects have made a substantial contribution to the area’s high-tech prominence. All the company’s businesses have branches in the Nuremburg area, where they are developing technologies such as industry software, intelligent power distribution solutions and mobility solutions.
Siemens Campus Erlangen will bring together a wide range of the company’s research and development units and enable a direct, intensive exchange among experts from different business fields.
“With this enormous planned investment, global player Siemens is making a strong commitment to Erlangen. And even more: the new Siemens campus will be an important symbol of Bavaria’s importance as a business and innovation center. Its impact will extend far beyond Germany,” said Bavarian State Minister Joachim Herrmann. Erlangen’s mayor Florian Janik stressed the growth opportunities that the project will provide for the city: “Siemens Campus Erlangen will create a completely new, vibrant urban district that will benefit all our citizens.” Siemens Managing Board member Siegfried Russwurm added: “The campus will break down rigid structures in the company and provide scope for a new, open type of collaboration for the development of innovations.”
Over the next few years, the construction of the Siemens campus will gradually transform the research center in the south of Erlangen into one of the company’s most advanced locations worldwide. With state-of-the-art building and energy technology, the premises will be developed over the long term into Siemens’ first CO2-neutral location worldwide. In cooperation with Erlangen’s municipal utility, the campus will operate on a CO2-neutral basis thanks to an innovative district cooling and heating concept and innovative building technology and will be a model of efficiency and sustainability. With the opening of the location, Erlangen will gain a new city district larger than 75 football fields. Openness and transparency will characterize not only the outward features of the campus but also the work environments within its buildings, which will have an open, flexible design.
Siemens Campus Erlangen was designed by the architects KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten of Frankfurt, Germany. The groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of the first module. The campus’s eight office buildings, its three multi-storey car parks and a canteen for around 7,000 employees will be ready for occupation by 2020. The first module will be followed by a second, whose 70-meter skyscraper will add a new feature to the Erlangen skyline.
