EK Robotics, a German developer of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) for the transport robotics industry, has commenced construction of its future headquarters on the Elbe island of Veddel in Hamburg.
Located in the immediate vicinity of the city center, southeast of HafenCity, the new innovation and production facility is being built on a construction site of approximately 17,000m2. From 2023, it will offer space for at least 400 employees on a floor area of approximately 10,000m2.
Andreas Böttner, CEO of EK Robotics, said: “The market is growing and we are growing with it. With our new and significantly larger headquarters, we want to meet this growth in an appropriate way and support our further internationalisation up to the expansion of a global presence.
“The intelligent space concept, attractive and modern furnishings, and excellent connections to Hamburg’s infrastructure will provide our employees with the best possible working and environmental conditions in the future. Our aspiration and goal is to be one of the most attractive employers in the industry.”
The building consists of an L-shaped office complex with approximately 7,000m2 of space on five floors and a production and research hall measuring approximately 3,000m2. Both have been designed by Hamburg architectural firm Hörter + Trautmann, which previously designed the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and Hafenklang superstructure in Holzhafen.
“In particular, a larger production and test area, as well as significantly more space for our development engineers, gives us the necessary freedom and space to continue to offer the greatest variety of transport robotics solutions for intralogistics in the future,” said Böttner.
EK subsidiaries in the UK and Italy have recently moved into new locations, with a view to growth and optimisation. The British subsidiary, for example, has relocated from Bramley to the centrally located Buckingham, acquiring a new office building and adjoining workshop and expanding from approximately 90m2 to 500m2.
In Italy, the company has acquired its own site in Milan to focus on series production of the Vario Move transport robot. The site, which covers more than 2,000m2, includes an office building as well as three production and storage halls.
EK’s Czech subsidiary is also planning to triple its production capacity, which will enable series production of transport robots at a new site in Prague.
