Ceremony Marks Excellent Progress in Constructing ESO Supernova

In recent months, the construction of the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre has made substantial progress and the remarkable architecture of the building has become clearly visible. To celebrate the fast pace of the construction work, a festivity was held on 28 October 2015, at ESO Headquarters in Garching bei München, Germany.

The construction workers were invited by ESO, the architects Bernhardt + Partner, and other companies involved in the construction including Schumann Projektsteuerung, Bollinger + Grohmann, IB Hausladen and Burnickl Ingenieure, to a party with food and beer. The whole occasion provided both the construction team and the future occupants with an opportunity to celebrate the building’s progress and to wish it and its occupants luck in the future.

ESO, the architects and all the other parties involved would particularly like to take the opportunity to thank the workers on the site for their exceptional dedication in constructing a very challenging and unusual building.

Representatives from all the companies involved in the construction of the facility attended the festivities and a total of around 70 people enjoyed the evening together.

The ESO Supernova, designed by architects Bernhardt + Partner and donated by the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, will provide visitors with an immersive experience of astronomy and ESO’s scientific results, projects and technological breakthroughs. It will include a state-of-the art digital fulldome planetarium, an interactive exhibition and a small 3D cinema. The interactive science stations developed by HITS will offer visitors a playful introduction to a wide range of scientific topics.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the ESO Supernova took place on 24 February 2015 (ann15011), marking the beginning of the main construction phase of the facility. The facility will be finished in early 2017 and is scheduled to open to the public in second half of 2017.

Courtesy of European Southern Observatory