The relocation of the adjacent state road L2218 creates the urgently needed space for the construction of a new pre-assembly hall and an additional administration building. Gerhard Schubert is covering all the costs of the road relocation, and the company's steady growth means that the assembly areas for the top-loading (TLM) packaging machines need to be continuously expanded. "That's why, back in 2014, when we started building our current assembly hall in Hall 1 North, we worked with the town of Crailsheim to explore the possibilities of developing additional building land for long-term planning," explains Peter Gabriel, Managing Director at Schubert.

After many discussions with the city, various interest groups of citizens, residents and environmental associations as well as the regional council in Stuttgart, the first concrete planning steps and preliminary building inquiries were made in 2017, and in October 2018, the city of Crailsheim finally gave the go-ahead for the planning and implementation of the plant expansion. Under the leadership of Social & Construction Mayor Jörg Steuler and his department heads Stefan Markus (Urban Development Department) and Gerhard Schacht (Construction & Transport Department), it was possible to obtain official and final approval for the development plans, land use plans and construction plans for the relocation and new construction of Dr.-Bareilles-Straße (L2218) within just nine months thanks to the unanimous approval of the local council.

A large assembly hall and a four-storey administration building will be added to the Schubert premises to the north, creating space for 300 new employees. © Gerhard Schubert

Strong partners in the implementation
The largest construction project in the history of the Crailsheim-based packaging machine manufacturer is a challenge. The entire planning and construction management of the road relocation will be carried out by the engineering office Grimm from Ellwangen, while the construction company Leonhard Weiss from Satteldorf will be responsible for the implementation. Günther Weid-Lachs' geological office in Fichtenau is responsible for the necessary geological reports for the subsoil and the ongoing geological monitoring. Gerhard Schubert, founder of Schubert, will personally plan the infrastructure and the new buildings in direct cooperation with architect Jochen Fessel, who specializes in industrial and commercial construction.

A 5,000 square meter assembly hall and a 4,400 square meter, four-storey administration building will be built for a total of 300 new employees. The company will also cover all costs for the construction and dismantling of the L2218. With a share of around five million euros of the total budget, this also includes construction measures to improve noise protection, various ecological compensation measures and the entire new infrastructure, including the construction of new cycle paths.

All measures requested by the city and stakeholders will be implemented in close cooperation with Gerhard Schacht and in accordance with the specifications of the city of Crailsheim. The formal exchange of land will then take place after the planned completion of the road in June 2020. as