Younger, livelier and more modern

It looks very much like a record: in Cologne four new exhibition halls - no-nonsense and purpose-built - with a congress centre and concourse have been put up in just 16 months.

The foundation stone was laid on September 17, 2004, and Cologne’s new northern exhibition halls were inaugurated at an opening ceremony before some 600 guests on January 16, 2006, when the whole comprehensively modernised exhibition ground was officially taken on stream. The grand opening of the halls also marked the starting shot for the international furniture fair imm cologne.
Officials in Cologne kept the ceremony deliberately low-key, and scarcely a speaker failed to mention the "circumstances" surrounding the hall construction (m+a report 8/05). This was presumably why national politicians gave the event a wide berth. But the guest speakers were unanimous in stressing the many possibilities and opportunities that the new-look Cologne exhibition company holds out for the future. Jochen Witt, the exhibition company's chief executive, spoke of a "qualitative quantum leap, saying the facility "creates a good starting position versus our competitors. Quality of stay and maximum flexibility through the improved infrastructure are key to this." Investment had gone not on more floor space, he insisted, but solely on improvements to event quality and the quality of stay - and not only in the new halls.
Representing the Federal Government, Hartmut Schauerte, under-secretary in the economics and technology ministry, highlighted the connection between Germany's persistent export successes and the "intelligent exhibition structure in Germany", which he described as "German industry's sales spearhead". He added that the newbuild Koelnmesse was a "valuable functional core of Germany's exhibition industry" on a "future-proof" site.
Inauguration of the northern halls has given Koelnmesse’s almost 80 year-old exhibition grounds a facelift - and a new geographic layout with the creation of a north-south axis. What is more, the complex is no longer interrupted by the railway line. The previous eastern halls are now southern halls. The four new halls in the north comprise gross exhibition area of altogether roughly 80,000 m2, replacing about the same amount of space in the historical Rheinhallen. Following alteration work, these will become one of Europe’s biggest office locations with broadcaster RTL as the principal tenant.
However, people now expecting magnificent architecture in Cologne are in for a disappointment. The four new halls are identical in construction, light and pillar-free and can be used for all types of events. Strip windows running round under the ceilings can be blacked out, so from complete darkness to daylight everything is possible. The halls are grey, no-nonsense and functional. Blanket supply of power, water, compressed air, telecommunications and media is guaranteed, the officials in Cologne promise. The halls serve one purpose only: as a shell for the stage on which companies present themselves. They are the important thing. In Jochen Witt's opinion the site is not the star: "The customers are what count." The new buildings are therefore "absolutely needs-based and one hundred percent geared to the customer." Words of praise from Helmut Lübke: "The new fairground is perfect in terms of good architecture and good design, superb infrastructure with state-of-the-art technology." He was delighted with the "architectural aesthetic that generously sets the scene for our products instead of seeking to upstage them".
The new buildings are single-level with 11 and 15 metre-high clear-span interiors so that they are freely accessible throughout for assembly and dismantling. Special attention has been paid to ease of loading: 6 metre-wide and 4.50 metre-high doors, and in each hall two big doors measuring 6 x 6 metres feature "new spaciousness". The high load-carrying capacity of the hall floors and logistical areas between the halls for outsize exhibits make the new facilities "a good fit for capital goods".
Together with the northern halls a new concourse has also been built, housing a press centre, VIP section and congress centre. But work on the site is still in progress. It will conclude in the summer with completion of the new southern concourse linking the halls directly to Köln Messe/Deutz high-speed ICE railway station.

m+a report Nr.1 / 2006 vom 13.02.2006
m+a report vom 13. Februar 2006