ARRI lays cornerstone at new headquarters

“In 1917, August Arnold and Robert Richter founded a film technology company in a small, former shoemaker's shop in the Tuerkenstrasse in Munich. They called the company ARRI. 100 years later, we are laying the foundations for a new production and office building in Parkstadt Schwabing.” With these words, Dr. Joerg Pohlman, Executive Board member of the ARRI AG, welcomed guests to the cornerstone laying ceremony at the construction site of the company’s new headquarters on May 24, 2017.

The relocation represents a milestone in the company's history and serves to secure its future. The building, carrying the project name ARRIAL, is centrally located, easily accessible, and offers the desired amount of room. After completion, the complex will enjoy 20,000 square meters (215,000 square feet) of usable space, able to accommodate 600 employees from the company’s central functions teams as well as the Business Units Camera Systems and Medical.

From Hollywood to Bollywood, ARRI is truly a global player with around 1,300 employees at numerous locations worldwide. “However, ARRI is and remains a Munich based company. With this new building, we are committed to maintaining our production in Munich,” explained Dr. Joerg Pohlman.

Guests of the ceremony included Munich’s Mayor, Josef Schmid, Head of the Department of Labor and Economy, as well as Chairman of the Cultural Committee of the state capital of Munich. “ARRI's products are setting standards worldwide. Therefore, this long-established company positively contributes to the good reputation of the Munich as well as the Bavarian film industry,” emphasized the Mayor. Furthermore: “ARRI is a prime example of the German Mittelstand’s efficiency. We are also very pleased that ARRI will continue to produce their products in Munich and, from here, export to the world.”

ARRI views ARRIAL as a campus that will allow for new forms of collaboration. Optimized work flows, shorter distances, better communication: The employees are to be given optimal conditions in which to be innovative well into the future. After all, production at ARRI has changed considerably in recent years. For example, ARRI now performs its own sensor bonding in a clean room. Innovation remains enormously important for ARRI. Not for nothing has the research and development staff tripled over the past four years.

Architect Achim Hoffmann from Hoffmann Amtsberg in Graefelfing also addressed the guests. He reflected on the design of the building, its peculiarities and challenges. “ARRI did not want a normal commercial building, but a house that gave space to several hundred individualists, creative engineers, and freelance film makers. On behalf of my co-workers and project partners, I would like to thank the building’s owners for the opportunity to create an extraordinary house for an extraordinary company,” said Achim Hoffmann. The building’s shell is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017 with the current plan to move the first departments in by December 2018.

The ceremony came to a close with the sealing of an engraved metal box containing the current edition of the customer magazine ARRI News as well as several daily newspapers. Dr. Joerg Pohlman concluded: “Let us lay the foundation. The foundation for a new building and for a successful future. To the next 100 years!”

Photos: ARRI/Bernd Wackerbauer

The image above shows (from left) Felix Mayer (apprentice at ARRI), architect Achim Hoffmann (Hoffmann & Amtsberg in Graefelfing), the Mayor of Munich Josef Schmid, and Dr. Jörg Pohlman (Executive Board member of the ARRI AG).