The transport robotics expert's new innovation and production site is being built on a 17,000 square meter construction site in the immediate vicinity of the city centre, south-east of HafenCity. From 2023, EK Robotics will have space for at least 400 employees in an area of around 10,000 square meters.

EK Robotics is a manufacturer of automated guided vehicles (AGVs). "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 manner and support our further internationalization and expansion of a global presence. The intelligent spatial concept, attractive and modern facilities and excellent connections to Hamburg's infrastructure should 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," says Andreas Böttner, CEO of EK Robotics.

Just 500 meters as the crow flies from the Norderelbbrücken bridges, on Oberwerder Damm in the Veddel district, the ground-breaking ceremony took place, marking the start of construction of the new EK Robotics headquarters. Together with Family Value Management GmbH and Lutz M. Birke, Head of the Port and Innovation Office, the transport robotics specialist welcomed numerous guests from the worlds of business, real estate and the media and press.

Senator for Economics and Innovation Michael Westhagemann sent his personal congratulations and welcome: "I am delighted that EK Robotics, an innovative high-tech company, is setting up its headquarters in the future-oriented district of Veddel. This ground-breaking ceremony marks the start of a location where the climate-neutral high-tech industry will settle. This settlement shows that companies in Hamburg will find optimal conditions for excellent research, highly qualified specialists and a strong network of science and business."

The building ensemble, which EK Robotics will move into at the beginning of 2023, is 10,000 square meters in size and offers space for at least 400 transport robotics experts. It consists of an L-shaped office complex with around 7,000 square meters of space on five floors and a production and research hall measuring around 3,000 square meters. Both were designed by Hamburg architects hörter + trautmann, known for projects such as the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and the Hafenklang superstructure in Holzhafen.

Growth at all EK Robotics locations

"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 be able to offer the greatest variety of transport robotics solutions for intralogistics in the future," emphasizes Andreas Böttner, referring at the same time to the subsidiaries in the UK and Italy, which have recently moved into new locations with a view to growth and optimization. The British subsidiary, for example, has relocated from Bramley to the centrally located Buckingham, acquired a new office building with an adjoining workshop, expanded from around 90 square meters to 500 square meters and thus created space for additional employees. In Italy, the focus is on series production of the Vario Move, which is why the company has acquired its own site in Milan. The 2,000 square meter site comprises an office building and three production halls and warehouses. The Czech subsidiary is also expanding and is planning to triple its production capacity, which will enable the series production of transport robots in particular at a new site in Prague.