The Project

The growing complexity of automotive technology makes qualified advice from an expert indispensable. A purchase decision also usually involves an upstream experience with the car itself. The Koch Group in Berlin Marzahn combines these two attributes in a combination of a Volvo showroom and a local dealership. 
Customers also demand sustainability and durability. The new Koch store also exhibits these two characteristics. The appropriate design appeal was achieved with the sandwich wall elements FischerTHERM Design from Fischer Profil and the premium coating Colorcoat Prisma The products fulfill innovation and durability in equal measure and thus characterize the high-quality appearance of the building between listed existing buildings. 

Product FischerTHERM® Design 120 and Colorcoat Prisma® Seren Copper

Architect: Papadopoulos Associates GmbH

Customer: Dörnbach Bauprofile

Installers: Bedachung Gernert GmbH

Project Cost:  3.872.000 Euro

Timescales: 2020

Vor der Herausforderung, die Customer Journey zu einem ganzheitlichen Kundenerlebnis zu machen, stehen nicht nur die Autohändler. Der Koch-Gruppe ist es am Standort Berlin Marzahn gelungen, digitale Kundenerlebnisse mit dem Vor-Ort-Kontakt zu verbinden, um ihre Kunden somit individuell zu begleiten. Die Themen Nachhaltigkeit und Klimaschutz rücken zudem immer mehr in den Fokus, damit auch mit neuen Mobilitätsanbietern mitgehalten werden kann. Das gesamte Konzept beruht auf den Ideen des Architekten Jürgen Papadopoulos. Das Ensemble aus dem modernen Volvo-Autohaus und dem Händler-Store fokussiert sich auf flexible Raumplanung, mit der Möglichkeit auf Gestaltung unterschiedlicher Themen-Showrooms. In diesen sind wechselnde Szenarien umsetzbar, fast wie auf einer Theater-Bühne. Die Qualität des Kundenkontakts sowie die individuelle und vor allem kompetente Beratung stehen dabei immer im Fokus. Das Erlebnis stellt sich somit in den Vordergrund, der reine Ausstellungsraum übernimmt die Hintergrund-Funktion. 
This innovative design represents a pioneering position in the automotive trade and convinces with an architecture that creates a meeting place and focuses on the customer experience. 

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"We have jointly developed a concept in which we present selected vehicles and focus on advice and dialog, supported by modern media and communication tools," says construction consultant and general planner Jürgen Papadopoulos, explaining the idea. "This enables us to offer an exclusive customer experience even in the smallest of spaces and to focus on the encounter with people. We realize quality instead of quantity."  Thus, two buildings were created on the 11,270-square-meter site. A Volvo dealership in the corporate identity of the Swedish automotive group. The second building, the Koch store, has a more striking appearance. Its large canopy spans the space between it and the Volvo building. The Koch Store is the sales base for the young used cars of all brands and also a venue for customer events. The showroom can accommodate eight cars. In front of the large, covered entrance area, there is further space for vehicle presentations. The customer meeting zones, lounges and niches, equipped with large screens, can be arranged according to different theme worlds and thus turn every sales talk into an experience. The gallery on the second floor houses a café as well as conference and office rooms.

Challenge to the products

FischerTHERM Design Wall elements decorate the facade of the Koch store. The client has chosen the sandwich wall elements with a thickness of 120 mm. Thanks to the additionally installed DUO-Seal the thermal properties of the sandwich element have been improved even further. The wall element thus achieves optimum thermal insulation and offers absolute air tightness. The wall element with concealed fastening is aesthetically and economically convincing with an absolutely flat surface finish. The Premium coating Colorcoat Prisma from Tata Steel with revolutionary clearcoat technology offers high corrosion resistance and excellent UV protection. This gives the building envelope unmatched color retention, improved aesthetics and long-term durability. These properties are backed up on the part of the manufacturer with the Confidex® Guarantee and a duration of certified 30 years.

The warm shade Seren Copper from the Elements range of the Colorcoat Prisma meets the high aesthetic and functional requirements for the building. This is because the building regulations imposed by Berlin's historic preservation authorities demand that the appearance of the Koch store fit seamlessly into the historic core of Berlin's Biesdorf district, which is located opposite. The metallic coating of the new building represents the perfect counterpart to the listed existing building. 

Car dealership of the future

This sustainable new commercial building is characterized by the robust steel coating on an area of 860 square meters. The Koch Group makes a visual statement and at the same time expresses innovative spirit and a high promise of quality. The Coating Colorcoat Prisma of the pre-finished sandwich wall elements FischerTHERM Design offer exceptionally high UV resistance and exceed the highest European corrosion protection classes. Car dealerships usually only focus the aesthetics of their buildings on the next five to ten years. The Koch Group, on the other hand, has invested sustainably in the next 30 years and has created a car dealership of the future.

"Our goal was to create an attractive meeting place for and with our customers. Our own themed worlds fit very well with our values and offer a completely new experience for our customers. This generates higher customer satisfaction, more sales and the strengthening of our brand," explains company founder and board member Thomas Koch, who associates the novel concept with the hope of perceptibly standing out from the competition and radiating to other locations in the group. "In this respect, the role of the new operation cannot be overestimated. This concept can be the blueprint for our site concepts of the future."

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