Lufthansa to consolidate office space in Frankfurt

The Lufthansa Group has begun construction of a new conference and visitor center in the immediate vicinity of the Lufthansa Aviation Center (LAC) at Frankfurt Airport. The new building is part of a consolidation process which has been under way at the Frankfurt am Main site since 2020, and which will reduce office and administrative space in various other local buildings by around 60,000 square meters – some 30 per cent – by the end of this year.

The use of office space has changed forever following the COVID-19 pandemic. New forms of work have gained in importance, and the office is steadily becoming more of a place to meet and work in often-changing teams. Administrative staff at Lufthansa, too, are increasingly collaborating in cross-divisional and cross-departmental structures – on interdisciplinary projects, to take just one example. With these trends in mind, multifunctional collaboration areas that can be flexibly used are coming to replace traditional office space. In the LAC alone, the company has converted some 3,200 square meters of floor area into ‘collaboration hubs’.

In line with these developments, the new Lufthansa Group conference and visitor center at Frankfurt Airport will be a venue for new forms of collaboration for the Group’s employees. It should also be a popular location for customers and business partners, as well as aviation enthusiasts. The new facility will further showcase Lufthansa’s pioneering spirit and expertise – especially in terms of shaping the future of aviation, but also in relation to the company’s story to date. As the prime historical exhibits here, two restored Lufthansa aircraft will be on permanent display: the Junkers Ju 52 – also known as Iron Annie – and, for the first time ever, the legendary Lockheed L-1649 Super Star with the registration D-ALAN, which is presently being restored by Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg. Both aircraft will also be viewable from afar, thanks to the building’s large see-through facade.

The light-filled building in aircraft hangar style will provide conference and visitor facilities as well as space for events accommodating more than 1,000 guests. An open gallery will invite visitors to explore exhibits from the company’s history, some of which have never been publicly accessible before. Like the Group’s Lufthansa Seeheim training and conference hotel, the new Frankfurt conference and visitor center will also be available for external events, and will offer its visitors a range of food and beverages at its coffee lounge.

The new building has been designed by Frankfurt-based architects AS+P Albert Speer + Partner. The hangar-like structure will be 72 meters wide, 17.5 meters high and 53 meters long. The total floor area extends to some 3,800 square meters. The building’s construction has been entrusted to building and service company Goldbeck. The grand opening is planned for spring 2026, the year of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the first Luft Hansa.

The new facility incorporates an efficient and sustainable energy concept. In addition to an extensive green roof, a photovoltaic system with a peak output of around 99 kilowatts will be installed (with potential for further expansion). The building will also feature geothermal heat pumps and ground collectors as well as an empty conduit system that will permit the future provision of e-charging stations in its car parking area.