Germany's Paul Horn Hall on track for 2018 opening

The construction of Hall 10 at Paul Horn Hall, on the grounds of Messe Stuttgart, Germany, is making good progress despite recent poor weather, and is on course to open in early 2018. Once completed, the new hall will increase the total exhibition area of Messe Stuttgart 105,200sqm to 120,000sqm – roughly the size of 17 football pitches. The Paul Horn Hall differs from other hall buildings, featuring a wooden construction, offering its own character. Kai Bierich, architect at wulf architekten gmbh, who is responsible for the construction, said: “It is satisfying when one can finish the construction of something it has started. “The architecture of the Paul Horn Hall is independent and stand-alone, but at the same time bears the same principles as its predecessor buildings, such as the design logic, the readability of the forces, the large roof and also the special materiality. A lot of aspects are reflected in the new building and appear in an exciting dialogue with already existing features.” For Ulrich Kromer von Baerle, CEO and president of Messe Stuttgart, the extension is happening earlier than anticipated, but is nevertheless urgently required. He said: “In 2008, just one year after the relocation to the new trade fair grounds, we were able to achieve a turnover of more than €100m, which was actually originally targeted for 2015.” He added: “Our attractiveness as a trade fair venue increased massively in a short period of time. We were unable to meet the steadily growing demand for more space without an extension of the hall capacities. “Demand also came from the area of guest events, where we had to refuse many new events owing to capacity constraints. With the organic growth from within, plus additional events, which will establish themselves in Stuttgart, our turnover will also continue to further increase.”