Features
First Look At Munich’s New Climate-Neutral 20,000-Cap Arena
The plans for Germany’s first climate-neutral, multi-purpose event arena, to be constructed at Munich Airport with a capacity for 20,000 people, have been green-lighted.
The SWMunich Real Estate GmbH, a partnership between investment firms Logo Partners GmbH and KGAL GmbH & Co KG, is the project management company behind the €300 million ($316 million) project.
The building will be designed by London-based architects Populous, and will be called MUCcc, which stands for multi-use concert and convention centre, with MUC also being the common abbreviation for Munich.
A site at Munich Airport has been earmarked for this purpose, and last month, Freising City Council agreed in principle to give the plans the green light. The approval process is now under way.
SWMunich Real Estate will come up with all of the €300 million for the planning and construction of the arena, which will meet all requirements of concerts and live entertainment events.
“The developers are pursuing a concept that will set new quality benchmarks of external architecture and interior design (acoustics, sight lines, equipment, and hospitality) as well as the important aspects of sustainability, transportation, and the environment,” according to an initial press release.
As a couple of other projects around the world have been demonstrating, climate protection and sustainable design can be worked into a building’s design right from the early stages of planning.
The declared aim of the makers behind MUCcc is “not simply to reduce emissions but to achieve climate neutrality.” A major component of that is the reduction of the carbon footprint before and during the construction phase, and the climate-positive management is supposed to continue once the arena is operational.
SWMunich believes, that the new arena will add to the cultural offering of the region, and boost tourism and the local economy. Auditing firm Deloitte, has estimated the gross added value for Freising and the region to be around €285 million per year.
Lorenz Schmid, one of SWMunich’s directors, commented, “We see the decision by the city council as both an incentive and an obligation because we will be building and operating Germany’s first climate-neutral event arena, for the benefit of the entire region. The new arena will put Munich in the Champions League of indoor concert venues.”
Gert Waltenbauer, also a director of SWMunich, added, “Construction and operation of Germany’s most sustainable concert arena will provide a significant cultural and economic boost for the region and make it even more attractive to tourists. The arena will help to make the Munich metropolitan region and the state of Bavaria future-proof and internationally competitive in the event sector. Financing for the project is safeguarded for the long term with the involvement of the KGAL Group, a leading, independent investment and asset manager.”