Sustainable architecture

These days, it’s not just Audi that’s committed to building a sustainable future, with modern architecture placing just as much emphasis on environmental sustainability as it does on aesthetically appealing design. The Audi Brand Experience Centre at Munich Airport is a perfect case in point, delivering on both fronts. A 30 x 30 metre cube, the first of three planned modules, floats freely in the air, supported solely by four internal columns. The centre is divided into multiple floors by a series of reinforced concrete slabs. 

Audi commissioned Munich architect Peter Zauner to design the centre: 

“The brief was to create an eco-friendly event venue for up to 2000 people. The ‘flexible box’ concept makes it incredibly versatile and multifunctional.” 

The Brand Experience Centre has two fully glazed facades, offering unrestricted views to east and west, with entrances on both sides. The centre’s temperature control system is powered by geothermal energy, with pipes that can be used for both heating and cooling installed in the walls and the slabs between the floors, making the building eco-friendly and cost-effective to run.

What makes the building unique are the 1650 solar cells integrated into the glass facades, with a total combined area of 450 square metres. The solar panels deliver 42,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, roughly equivalent to the annual power consumption of 10 four-person households and far more than the building’s own energy needs. The surplus is stored in two battery storage devices with a capacity of 320 kilowatt hours, which Audi made from second-life batteries – thus assisting the recycling of used batteries.

Sophie Scholl is responsible for events at the Audi Campus at Munich Airport, which includes the Audi Brand Experience Center.

“To coincide with the launch of the Audi e-tron, the Audi Brand Experience Centre was been built with the first-ever all-green charging system for our electric fleet,” Scholl says.

Instead of surplus electricity being returned to the grid, a smart energy management system uses it to power six public charging points in front of the building. In an ideal scenario, the charging points run solely off solar energy, but there’s a back-up system in case the batteries run out due to a lack of sun. Two of the six charging points are 150-kilowatt rapid chargers. These terminals supplement Audi’s 78 existing charging points at Munich Airport, making it one of the largest contiguous charging parks in Europe. 

Audi has been constantly expanding its Campus at Munich Airport for over 20 years, using it for a number of initiatives including conferences, meetings and to allow customers and members of the public to learn more about the brand. The Brand Experience Centre is the latest addition, joining the myAudi sphere, the Audi Conference Centre, and three other Audi training centres. 

But the Audi Brand Experience Centre is more than just an international training centre for Audi staff. 

“It’s designed to be a central venue for Audi events. So it needs to embody the company’s transformation into a sustainable mobility provider,” explains Horst Hanschur, Vice President Retail Business Development and Customer Services.

Audi intends to make all its production locations worldwide carbon-neutral by 2025, and to achieve carbon-neutrality company-wide by no later than 2050. The Audi Brand Experience Centre is both an expression of and an inspiration for this ambition.