A landmark property in Munich, Germany, showcases the versatility of stainless steel. BMW Welt, located on a prominent site between Munich’s Olympic Park and BMW headquarters, features stainless steel inside and out. In this stunning building, stainless steel does double-duty, dazzling the eye while performing essential and innovative functions.
Built by Germany’s Josef Gartner, BMW Welt is a gleaming glass-and-steel palace where car delivery takes place and visitors are wrapped in brand experience. New cars rotate on huge turntables as the company’s vision of future mobility is displayed throughout. Designed to accommodate 800,000 visitors a year, the property includes a showroom, a junior campus tailored to children and young people, an event forum, restaurants and shops.
Where form meets function
A 28-meter double cone suggesting a rotating hyperbola dominates the structure. A cloud-like roof is supported by a triangular lattice structure of hollow steel sections. Hot and cold water pumped through welded profiles in a closed loop heat the building in winter and cool it in summer.
At the ceiling level, perforated panels of stainless steel provide both dramatic effect and solar shading. On the roof – the building’s “fifth façade” – stainless steel plays a key role in an 8,000-square foot photovoltaic system. There, Outokumpu Supra 316/4401 is used to counter high levels of fine particle emissions and abrasion dust resulting from brake linings in the air surrounding a busy intersection.
Stainless exterior and interior
The beauty of this stainless steel solution is in its ability to communicate BMW’s vision of the future. In BMW Welt, stainless steel delivers form and function in a one-of-a-kind facility designed to immerse visitors into the world of BMW.
Stainless steel is the primary material used on upper sections of the building’s exterior, but it is also used as interior cladding. Outokumpu supplied about 500 tonnes of stainless steel coil and sheet for BMW Welt. Outokumpu Supra 316L/4404 was used on the building’s exterior; Core 304/4301 was used on the interior. All material was delivered with a 2B surface finish, glass bead-blasted prior to fabrication by Josef Gartner.