A Composite System for the New Basle Exhibition Hall

Messe Basel, the Basle trade fair operators, decided in 1995 to invest USD 265 million in order to optimise the infrastructure of its trade fair facilities. The main focus of the investment was the three-storey No. 1 exhibition hall. The new No. 1 exhibition hall replaces an existing building, which had to be demolished and rebuilt between April 1998 and April 1999 - the dates of Basle's most important trade exhibitions. Additional constraints were imposed on the project by the demands for cost efficiency and flexibility in use, and by architectural and city-planning requirements.