BMW Welt

BMW Welt (English – BMW World), is a multi-functional customer experience and exhibition facility of the BMW AG, located in Munich, Germany. In direct proximity to the BMW Headquarters and the Olympiapark, it is designed to present the current products of BMW, be a distribution center for BMW cars, and offer an event forum and a conference center.

Design and construction

In 2001 an international architectural design competition was sponsored by BMW AG. Twenty-seven offices participated in the competition four of which were awarded prizes. The jury awarded two offices Sauerbruch Hutton and COOP HIMMELB(L)AU first prize and made the recommendation for the competitors to rework their design submissions in a third design phase in order for BMW to determine which office would be awarded the contract.

The contract was awarded to the Vienna-based architects COOP HIMMELB(L)AU and the facility was constructed from August 2003 through summer 2007 at a cost of US$200 million. Originally conceived to be open and ready for World Cup 2006, it eventually opened on October 17, 2007, and deliveries commenced on October 23, 2007. The first customer to take European delivery of a new BMW at the Welt was Jonathan Spira. There were 2,200,000 visitors during the first 12 months of operation. The number of visitors increased to 2,930,000 in 2013, of which 60% came from Germany.