HANNOVER (dpa-AFX) - The automotive supplier Continental will open its new corporate headquarters in Hanover on Wednesday. The new building, which was completed more than two years behind schedule, will house 2400 administrative employees. The building complex has been under construction since 2018 and Conti has invested more than 100 million euros.

"The new company headquarters is a clear and architecturally impressive commitment by Continental to Lower Saxony and the state capital of Hanover," says Stephan Weil, Minister President of Lower Saxony, who plans to give a speech to more than 100 guests at the opening ceremony in the evening. Conti CEO Nikolai Setzer speaks of a place "where our vision, our values and our culture can be experienced". According to Setzer, the open architecture facilitates communication between departments and strengthens the culture of innovation and networking within the company.

Corona and lack of materials cause delays

The new building was originally due to open in October 2021 to mark the Group's 150th anniversary. However, the construction announced in 2017 was delayed several times. Even the approval process took longer than planned, with the ground-breaking ceremony taking place three months late in July 2018. The coronavirus pandemic then slowed down work from 2000 onwards, after which a lack of materials caused further delays. Construction work was only completed in October 2023, more than two years later than planned. The first employees then moved in in November.

The construction costs also increased due to the delay, the company admitted. Continental did not provide exact details when asked. The company only spoke of an amount "in the lower three-digit million euro range" that was invested in total, i.e. more than 100 million euros.

Desks are enough for more employees

Continental used the construction delay to revise the utilization concept and is now allowing significantly more employees to move into the new building than originally planned. Based on the experience gained during the coronavirus pandemic and the trend towards working from home, the occupancy of the rooms has been completely revised once again, said a spokeswoman.

Since, unlike assumed at the start of construction, only part of the workforce will be coming into the office every day, the 1,200 workstations will now be sufficient for twice as many employees. Instead of the originally planned 1250 employees, 2400 employees will now find their workplace here. In addition to the Group headquarters, the tire division and the Hanover-based administration of the subsidiary Contitech are also moving into the new building.

Glass façade and solar cells on the roof

The building complex consists of a total of six buildings with a combined floor space of 46,000 square meters, which are connected by a free-floating glass bridge over the busy Hans-Bockler-Allee. The façade consists of 14,500 square meters of glass, with solar cells on the roofs that will supply 300,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. The company has not yet decided what will become of the current Group headquarters in Hanover. This is currently being examined, said a spokeswoman./fjo/DP/mis