Extension of ESO headquarters in Germany inaugurated

The official inauguration ceremony for the new European Southern Observatory (ESO) buildings took place on December 4. Two new structures were inaugurated, including an office building and a technical building, maintaining the same architectural style as the original headquarters, built in 1980.  Both buildings are considered "green buildings": they consume much less energy than similar buildings and use a heating system that utilizes water heated by geothermal energy.

Cylindrical in shape, the diameter of the technical building resembles the 39 meters of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The new space will allow new instruments and technological innovations to be tested, contributing to the development of the research campus in Garching bei München. It will also house one of the world's largest digital archives of astronomical data.

The Portuguese company TurboConstroi was responsible for the construction of a substantial part of the building, executing the reinforced concrete structure of these new facilities, in a contract worth around €1 million. The new buildings were designed by architects Auer+Weber+Assoziierte and construction was carried out by BAM Deutschland AG.