Puma held a groundbreaking ceremony on May 13 to celebrate the beginning of construction works for the expansion of its headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Guests of honor included the Bavarian State Minister of Finance, Regional Development and Home Affairs, Markus Söder, football legend Lothar Matthäus, who is also a long-time Puma partner, as well as around 80 guests from the worlds of politics and economy. The new six-story building complex will provide nearly 14,000 square meters of office space for up to 550 employees. An 85-meter-long pedestrian bridge spanning the Hans-Ort-Ring roadway will connect the new building with the existing Puma offices while serving as a new landmark. The company will eventually give up its current location in Würzburger Strasse. Expansion work is scheduled for completion in spring 2018.
As reported in the previous issue of SGI, the Adidas Group had approached the local authorities in Herzogenaurach with objections to this enlargement plan by Puma, mentioning potential problems in terms of noise and traffic, on the same side of town. Adidas said that other parties had complained on similar grounds, showing that the issues were unrelated to the builder's identity. The local authorities finally published the construction permit.
Puma's new administrative building will be about 123 meters long and 22 meters high. The building has been designed to have light-flooded open-plan offices with a floor-to-ceiling window front. In addition to offices, the building will contain a 1,600-square-meter employee gym, along with an outdoor area with a basketball and volleyball court and a 500-square-meter multifunctional sports area. The building will meet the same high environmental standards as the contiguous PumaVision headquarters, with a concrete core temperature control ensuring sustainable heating and cooling, in conjunction with air-water heat pumps. Most of the rinsing water will be provided through a cistern containing 300 cubic meters of rainwater. In addition, Puma said it plans to provide charging stations for electric vehicles at the site.
