Perfection, precision and reliability are qualities we love in cars. The Autostadt has the same high standards for the reception of its visitors. As the part of the customer centre not affected by the conversion will remain accessible, the entire construction process will take place under special conditions.
Every sub-project is given its own individual construction enclosure to ensure absolute freedom from dust and to maintain a high-quality appearance. The stairs, for instance, were given cladding that picks up on the black-and-white form of the Social Sphere. With its colourful rectangles, the enclosure of the Car Configurator already hints at the sample wall taking shape inside. So as not to disturb visitors with construction noise, building work is carried out only at night. By day, the building site disappears completely unobtrusively behind the specially made screens.
A particular challenge was the design of the enclosure for the construction of the Social Sphere. The unique scaffold, made from specially manufactured fitted parts, formed an ideal screen that was clad on the outside with a shimmering curtain. The softly flowing folds of the fabric made the large surface appear friendlier and the structure less imposing. The enclosure was at the same time the scaffolding for the assembly. Beforehand, it had to pass a trial assembly to test its unusual geometry. The complex shapes of the aluminium structure were prefabricated to a high degree in order to allow rapid assembly in just three nights. Sheet-metal panels within the structure seal the scaffold against dust and make it fireproof.
The attention to detail extends right down to the design of the signs indicating the ongoing construction work.
Two limiting factors mean that conversion works at the Autostadt demand masterful feats of planning and craftsmanship: the narrow time window and the confined space. So as not to disturb visitors with construction noise, the work is carried out only within the short night-time window between 11 pm and 7 am. Inside the construction enclosures, a precise way of working and a great deal of skill are required amid scaffolding, machinery and components.
This challenge can be mastered only through precise planning with our 3D model. On the computer, all the parts of the substructure and surface for the 3D-shaped wall geometry are drawn precisely, so that they can later be assembled on site with an exact fit.
In order to realise our vision of a flowing, monolithic form under these more demanding conditions, a special material had to be found from which the individual parts could be prefabricated to perfection. The mineral-based material Corian is ideal for this purpose, as it forms easy-care surfaces that can be shaped into a curve as though cast in a single piece.
For the construction, the individual parts were thermally formed according to our 3D model and then milled. Inside the construction enclosure, the prefabricated Corian parts were assembled on a spatial scaffold. There they were bonded and sanded in one piece, so as to render the adhesive residue invisible and to preserve the seamless evenness. To achieve a uniform finish and thereby give the surfaces their perfect appearance, each of the large individual panels was allowed to be worked on by only one person. After sanding, a matt shimmer of soft reflections rests on the smooth surface.
The Autostadt's demand for quality by no means stops at construction enclosures and high-end production. To ensure an all-round perfect result, sampling is carried out before assembly on site, testing the joining of materials and the functioning of the planned construction. For this, transitions from Corian to wood or stone are built true to scale and examined from various angles.
For the entire staircase construction of the Social Sphere, a section of the staircase was produced as a trial build. As the staircase is a one-off that had never been built before, all technical details and the stability of the construction had to be tested on the trial build. This was used to check whether the handrails are at the right height and feel comfortable to hold in their position. The lighting of the steps was also optimised on the mock-up. Behind the strips of light lies complex technology that remains entirely invisible from the outside. The sample is presented to the Autostadt's design board in order to agree on the external appearance. It is then examined by all the technical departments with regard to cleaning, repair and maintenance. The insights gained then feed into the further planning.
For the Car Configurator, not just a section but a simplified replica of the entire room was built on a trial basis. The aim was to test whether the spatial arrangement has the intended effect on visitors. Using a template on the floor, the exact fit of the room in which the Car Configurator is to be created could be maintained. On this basis, the wall section with the ergonomically shaped bench and the plasma screen specially flown in from Japan were positioned, on which the car configuration was tested at full size.
