Overall contractor, HRS Real Estate AG, has completed the new hall complex according to plan and on schedule and handed it over to MCH Messe Basel. At the beginning of March, a start will be made on the assembly work for BASELWORLD, which will be opening its doors on 25 April 2013 . Two days prior to this, the inauguration ceremony will be held for the new complex, featuring inter alia a live performance by American singer, Lana del Rey. On 29 June 2013, the public will be invited to an "Open Day".
MCH Messe Basel's new building concept was first presented to the public almost seven years ago – and now it has been completed. After a construction period of some 22 months – divided over three building phases between June 2010 and February 2013 – the overall contractor responsible for the building work, HRS Real Estate AG, handed over the new hall complex to MCH Messe Basel according to plan and on schedule, on 8 February 2013. With a total investment of CHF 430 million, the successfully completed project marks the biggest investment ever made in Switzerland's exhibition industry.
The hall complex, which is 220 metres long, 90 metres wide and 32 metres high provides a total of 38,000 square metres' exhibition space on the ground floor and the two upper floors spanning Exhibition Square. All in all, Messe Basel can now offer some 141,000 square metres of exhibition space, with no fewer than 74,000 square metres of this being provided by Hall 1, which runs along Riehenring. The multifunctional Event Hall on the ground floor to the south of Exhibition Square has space for up to 2,500 people with concert seating.
The new building developed by architects Herzog & de Meuron combines functionality and aesthetics in the ideal manner. The compact exhibition site makes for flexible management and offers visitors a high level of comfort and convenience. At the same time, the new complex constitutes an impressive architectural visiting card. The built-over section of Exhibition Square with its striking atrium – the City Lounge – and also the third-party uses open to the public, will form a new and attractive centre for the exhibition site and the entire neighbourhood.
Deliveries to the new hall complex are made primarily via the basement (in the same way as for the rest of Hall 1), as well as via Isteinerstrasse and its continuation between the new building and the car park. MCH Messe Basel has developed a new logistics tool for optimising the flow of transport, which is based on the online reservation of a delivery time. The Minergie certification office for Basel-Stadt has awarded the new complex the BS-054 Minergie Label. This certificate has been developed especially for MCH Messe Basel's new building.
At the moment, the finished complex is undergoing thorough testing. At the beginning of March, a start will then be made on the assembly work for the BASELWORLD Watch and Jewellery Show, which will be opening its doors on 25 April 2013. In parallel to this, the third-party uses around the edge of the City Lounge will be fitted out: the "Käfer Stube" restaurant, the "Namamen" ramen bar, the "avec.bistro" shop-cum-bistro and an MCH Group lounge.
The inauguration ceremony for the new hall complex is being held on the evening of 23 April 2013. The highlight of the ceremony will be a live performance by American singer Lana del Rey. On 29 June 2013, the public will also have the opportunity to visit the new building when MCH extends an invitation to an "Open Day".
