Press Release
Chronology of the BMW Welt.
From the Start of Construction to the Opening.
The story of the BMW Welt begins in January 2001, with COOP HIMMELB(L)AU under the leadership of Professor Wolf D. Prix winning the international architects’ contest for the new building. After careful assessment and detailed discussion, the Board of Management of BMW AG had decided in December of the previous year in favour of the exceptional design concept proposed by the Austrian architecture office.
The actual designing and planning process starts about one year after the decision, with COOP HIMMELB(L)AU as the architects and general planners interacting with some 30 sub-planners including a total of approximately 120 architects and engineers. In all, no less than 15,000 plans are completed and a total of 800,000 hours spent on the planning process alone.
The Munich Olympic Car Park is closed on 1 August 2003, subsequently being demolished and providing the space for the construction of the BMW Welt. Demolition and disposal operations on the site are concluded in January 2004, allowing the start of excavation work and underground construction. In the months to come one drill hole after the other is filled with concrete, creating a total of 775 pillars in the ground, each of them 17 m or 56 ft deep and measuring 88 cm or 34.5” across. Connected directly to one another, these concrete pillars form a vertical concrete wall as part of the subsequent walls on the underground level. They protect the excavation in the construction pit from earth sliding in and groundwater flooding in from outside. In all, trucks fully laden with earth and soil leave the construction pit measuring 210 m/689 ft in length and up to 120 m/394 ft in width no less than 12,000 times. In May 2004 excavation work reaches the bottom level of 14 m/46 ft, 6 m/19.5 ft beneath the groundwater level.
On 16 July 2004 the BMW Welt celebrates the placement of the founding stone in a festive ceremony – and to this day, the founding stone rests firmly in the ground at the Northern Entrance for all visitors of the BMW Welt to admire.
Next comes the construction of the building structure as such, with 55,000 m3 of concrete being filled into the construction site level by level. The first step, obviously, is to complete the underground levels in the BMW Welt, with 580 parking spaces, the truck delivery area for customer cars, the car washing line, the Daytime Storage Area, workshop, etc, all the way to underground kitchens and catering rooms.
Construction of the steel structures and facades starts at the turn of the year 2004/2005, the high-rise steel structure being a particular challenge in the months to come. Indeed, the complex geometry of the Double Cone and the static structure of the building as such gives the steel construction specialists a genuine challenge. No less than 13,000 assembly plans are compiled for this purpose alone, ensuring full maintenance of safety standards and at the same time maintaining Professor Prix’s architectural concept.
The lower half of the steel structure on the Double Cone is completed by the end of February 2005 together with the underground levels, thus paving the way for work on the interior facilities. By January 2006 work on the load-bearing structure of the Double Cone is completed.
A special party celebrating completion of the building structure as such is held on 1 July 2005: “28 Metres Above Zero” is the highest point on the expansive, “hovering” roof of the BMW Welt supported by countless scaffolding towers. So following an old tradition, the construction foreman climbs up the building structure right to the top, declaring the structural work completed to 400 guests present on the occasion.
During the turn of the year 2005/2006 the roof of the building is lowered from the more than 150 provisional supports on to the final 12 building pillars. This process of structural downloading is so quick and uncomplicated that the next process of glazing the facade is able to start right away in February, with windows and glass surfaces covering a total area of 14,500 m2/156,000 ft2. Slowly but surely, the roof is closed completely and the photo-voltaic generator system takes on its final shape. Progress also continues around the construction site, with the largest crane, for example, already being dismantled at this point.
Interior work on the levels above ground comes next in the period from June 2006 to June 2007. The Premiere Level with its turntables and all the technical facilities for the actual delivery of cars, the elevators, catering facilities and technical installations in the Events Forum take on their final touch. Now the time has come for bringing in the furniture and high- lights in interior architecture, with trial operation of the BMW Welt starting in June 2007.
The pedestrian bridge connecting the BMW Welt to the BMW Building Complex made up of the BMW Museum, BMW Munich Plant and the BMW Four-Cylinder Building is completed in April 2007, with the building being officially handed over on 30 June 2007 for trial operations and tests at the BMW Welt.
The Big Day comes on 17 October 2007, with the BMW Welt being officially opened in a festive ceremony with 800 invited guests. And starting on 20/21 October 2007, the gates are open for visitors, customers and neighbours during the public days, allowing visitors to experience and enjoy the facilities prior to the actual start of operations.
