Continental holds HQ topping out ceremony

The future of Continental is taking shape – 15 months after holding a groundbreaking ceremony for its new headquarters site in Hannover, Germany, last week the tyre maker and automotive systems provider held a topping out ceremony for the facility. During the ceremony, Continental chief executive officer Dr Elmar Degenhart reported that the progress remains “right on schedule” and the buildings will be ready to be occupied in time for the company’s 150th anniversary in 2021.

The new Continental Campus is located at the eastern entrance to Hannover. Eight interconnected buildings are being erected during the first stage of development. These will offer space for 1,250 employees, with scope for subsequent expansion to 1,600 workstations. Continental’s current corporate headquarters only has space for around 900 employees and has become too small in recent years.

The shell of the new Continental corporate headquarters has been completed

“The new corporate headquarters is a symbol of our long-term focus on the future,” commented Degenhart. “That’s why we’re putting a lot of energy not only into building our new headquarters but also into remodelling our organisational structure and processes. This will make us more decentralised in our decision-making and more agile in the future. Through our solutions and efforts, we are designing the healthy mobility ecosystem. This type of mobility is clean, secure and intelligently networked.”

One of the defining elements of the new headquarters is a 71 metre, column-free bridge connecting the northern and southern campuses across a main road. The construction of this bridge was originally planned for this autumn but has been delayed until spring 2020. Continental says this delay will not affect the progress of other construction work on the site.