Topping-out ceremony for new study and conference centre

Some 150 guests attended the topping-out ceremony for the new study and conference centre at the Mannheim Business School (MBS) and caught a first glimpse of the new building – a spectacular combination of tradition and innovation.

“An old cold cellar in the Mannheim Schloss garden has been transformed from landscape into art, to provide futuristic lecture rooms and ‘think tanks’ for the Mannheim Business School”, Professor Michael Schumacher explained in his ceremonial address. The new lecture hall complex is approached from the western Ehrenhof courtyard in Mannheim castle, via the ancient castle kitchen. A generously proportioned staircase then leads down to the two-storey forum below, located in the former coal cellar. The forum houses two lecture theatres, several rooms for group work and a conference area. In total the habitable area amounts to some 850 m². The forum’s full-height glazed façade affords views out to the newly landscaped garden.

MBS made €9 million available to cover the total building cost, and in return it enjoys the right to use the site for 30 years. The project is due for completion in April 2017.

Photos: Mannheim Business School