Fresenius holds topping-out ceremony for new ‘EK3’ building at headquarters in Bad Homburg

Fresenius held the topping-out ceremony today for a new office building, part of the global healthcare group’s headquarters expansion in Bad Homburg. Local officials and business representatives joined a large number of employees for the festivities.

When the building opens next year it will offer modern workplaces for about 600 members of the company’s steadily growing workforce, as well as conference rooms, an additional staff canteen and a parking garage. Known internally as “EK3” because it will be the third Fresenius headquarters building on Else-Kröner Strasse, the five-story, “L”-formed structure will have a total volume of more than 100,000 cubic meters (over 3.5 million cubic feet) – the equivalent of about 175 single-family homes. About 11,000 cubic meters of earth were moved to make way for the building, with some 2,000 truckloads of cement and 2,000 tons of steel being used in its now-completed structural shell.

Addressing the topping-out ceremony, Rachel Empey, the Chief Financial Officer of Fresenius, stressed the importance of layout and design in facilitating cooperation between colleagues inside a building. “I hope that we’ll all use this space here in EK3 to work well together, and to cooperate even more effectively in the future,” Empey said. “It’s important that we are closely interconnected throughout the Fresenius Group. Fresenius possesses an incredible amount of knowledge and know-how: We have to share it, and make it transparent inside the Group, in order to continue growing as we are now. And then we will be able to dedicate a few more buildings here in Bad Homburg.”

Mayor Alexander Hetjes of Bad Homburg said: “We congratulate Fresenius on the very rapid and smooth construction. The residents of Bad Homburg have been following the headquarters expansion with great interest. Fresenius is a major employer, a leader in its sector, and a company that organizes and stages many activities to promote good health among the people in our city. We wish the company and everyone involved every success for the rest of the construction.”

Fresenius is investing a total of about €70 million in its headquarters expansion. The company currently employs about 3,600 people in Bad Homburg, and an additional 300 in the neighboring town of Oberursel.