Aepli Metallbau establishes a new location in Gossau
With the future headquarters on the Sommerau-Nord site in Gossau, the company is getting fit for the future and bundling its energy in one place.
Aepli Metallbau normally builds metal construction for others – especially modern and energy-efficient facades made of glass and metal. The company's major projects include the HSG Learning Center in St. Gallen, the Basel Biozentrum and the Quadrolith in Baar. Today the family business, which has been based in Gossau for 108 years, has around 200 employees.
The previous headquarters on Industriestrasse is reaching its capacity limits despite extensions and the production halls spread over three locations. The third generation of the company's boss, Roman Aepli, decided to build a new headquarters. This is being built on the Sommerau-Nord site – right next to the Gossau motorway junction. Aepli was able to buy the 100,000 square meter land from the Migros Ostschweiz cooperative around two years ago.
The office building and a two-part production hall can be found on 35,000 square meters. The office building has five floors and a glass facade that tapers from top to bottom. This builds on the protruding and recessed Aepli Air Control facade elements. This is to ensure maximum energy efficiency. Photovoltaic systems on the flat roof of the production hall ensure sustainable electricity production. An underground car park with 166 parking spaces offers space for the service vehicles.
In this way, not only can Aepli Metallbau's production be bundled in one place, but the long-term future of the company in Gossau can also be ensured, as Roman Aepli says. Investments in the latest production technologies and digitization are planned. The automation in particular will take up a lot of space, which is why Sommerau-Nord is the ideal location. Thanks to the planned production lines, new processes are to be optimized, thereby increasing efficiency and quality.
The new building is the largest investment in the company's history. It is planned that production on the Sommerau can start in autumn 2022. The office space should also be ready for occupancy at the beginning of 2023.
Of the remaining 65,000 square meters of land, Aepli has kept 6,000 square meters as a reserve. The rest of the land was divided into three parcels and sold to three companies: The new owners are Huber Kunststoff AG, the powder coater Gema Switzerland GmbH and the cooperative butcher shop St. Gallen and the surrounding area.
But there are not only changes in the location, but also in the management: Since January 1, 2021, the new management team has consisted of long-term employees Matthias Elmer (Managing Director), Michael Röthenmund (Technical Director), Thierry Knöpfel (Head of Sales) and Marcel Rechsteiner (Head of Finance and HR). Aepli is concentrating on his duties as Chairman of the Board of Directors and on realizing the new company headquarters.
