Arburg: Official ground-breaking ceremony for new Customer Centre

Firm commitment to Lossburg production location/ Geothermal climate control technology

On 28 March 2007, the official ground-breaking ceremony for the new Arburg Customer Centre (www.arburg.com) was held in Lossburg. At the heart of the new building will be a large show room, which offers sufficient space to house the entire machine series. “With this new building, we confirm our strong commitment to Lossburg as our sole production location,” said Michael Hehl, Managing Partner and Spokesperson for the Arburg Management Team in his welcoming speech.

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Under radiant sunshine, around 30 people celebrated the ground-breaking for the new Customer Centre: Peter Dombrowsky, District Administrator of Freudenstadt, Thilo Schreiber, Mayor of Lossburg, Siegfried Schmelzle and Claus Matt of Schmelzle + Partner architect’s office, Horst Rothacker of Rothacker interior design office and others involved in the planning and construction of the Centre had responded to Arburg’s invitation. Managing Partners Eugen Hehl with his spouse Gisela, Juliane Hehl, Karl Hehl, Michael Hehl and Renate Keinath attended the event. Also present were Arburg Managing Directors Herbert Kraibühler and Michael Grandt, as well as Arburg architect Manfred Wolfer.

Outstanding customer support
The guests were welcomed by Michael Hehl, who explained the reasons for building the new Customer Centre. “Traditionally, comprehensive first-class customer support has held a very high priority for Arburg. An important aspect here are the show rooms in which we present our products and their capabilities, as well as carrying out testing on customer moulds. Owing to the extension of our machine range up to a clamping force of 5,000 kN, the expansion of our product range with our own robotic systems and the resulting complex production cells, our existing premises have become too small,” said Hehl.

Completion of the new building by autumn 2008
He then went on to briefly explain the concept and scale of the construction project. The new five-storey building with a total useable floorspace of approx. 10,000 square metres is being constructed on the site of the previous administration wing. In addition to a large demonstration room, two administration floors and a representative reception area are planned. The investment in the Customer Centre, which is scheduled for completion by autumn 2008, will amount to an eight-figure sum.

Firm commitment to Lossburg as a production location
Construction of the new Customer Centre precisely at this location was described by Hehl as a clear signal of Arburg’s commitment to Lossburg as its sole production location and thereby to Germany as an industrial base. The fact that Arburg is further strengthening the foundations for long-term corporate growth with the new building, “will bring long-term benefit to us, our company, our employees, the municipality of Lossburg and the entire region. It has always been our conviction that Germany provides significant advantages as an industrial location for our customers, our employees and ourselves,” said the Spokesperson for the Management Team.

Harmonious integration of the new building
With the dominant design elements of reinforced concrete, glass and steel, the new building not only corresponds to the Arburg corporate architectural concept, it will also harmoniously extend the existing front. Despite the impressive figure of 60,000 cubic meters of interior space, the new Customer Centre will not rise significantly above the existing main administration building. Overall, the building will even lie significantly behind the maximum possible set-back lines.

New energy harvesting methods
Arburg’s awareness of its ecological responsibilities and adoption of a pioneering role in this field was illustrated by Hehl based on the energy concept for the building. “As with our products, we will also tread new paths with our Customer Centre. The energy supply for the entire building will be assured via geothermal power, a technology which in itself is not new. The innovation lies in how we will utilise it. Not only will we extract heat from the earth, but will also feed the waste heat from the machines back into the system” explained Hehl.

The probes for energy harvesting will each be lowered to a depth of 199 meters in 24 bore holes.
The building will be heated and cooled via power storage and the extraction of energy from the upper rock strata. “Calculations have shown that with this type of energy harvesting, we can gain some 600,000 kilowatt hours per year of heating capacity and approximately 400,000 kilowatt hours per year of cooling capacity”.

Local people and authorities support Arburg
Following Michael Hehl’s speech, the architect Siegfried Schmelzle from the Schmelzle + Partner architect’s office presented further details of the planned use of the new Customer Centre. In conclusion, District Administrator Dombrowsky and Mayor Schreiber congratulated the owning Hehl and Keinath families on the new Customer Centre. “In this day and age, a relationship of this kind with their community of origin can no longer be taken for granted,” said the District Administrator. The Mayor confirmed that, “the municipality of Lossburg and its citizens stand behind the company.” He closed his speech with the words, “Arburg’s building activities are always an exceptional event, and a new age will begin with the new Customer Centre.” The start of this new age was heralded in with the official ground breaking ceremony.

Picture: Official ground-breaking ceremony for new Arburg Customer Centre (from left): interior designer Horst Rothacker, Arburg Partner Eugen Hehl, Arburg Managing Partner Juliane Hehl, Arburg Managing Partner Michael Hehl, District Administrator of Freudenstadt Peter Dombrowsky, architect Siegfried Schmelzle, Mayor of Lossburg Thilo Schreiber, architect Claus Matt, Arburg Managing Partner Renate Keinath and Arburg Partner Karl Hehl.

Arburg GmbH + Co KG, Lossburg

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