Berlin Airport... or The money pit project

 

The Sydney Opera House is one of the best-known iconic buildings, recognized around the world as a global symbol of Australia. The project was originally scheduled for four years, with a budget of AUS $7 million. It ended up taking 14 years to be completed and cost AUS $102 million. Yet, it was included in PMI’s 50 most influential projects on basis of “demonstrating architecture’s power to redefine a city”. Time heals all wounds. This saying  holds true for a building that was inaugurated 47 years ago.

This past 31^st of October Berlin Brandenburg airport finally opened its doors. With a delay of 9 years – its completion was originally planned by 2011 – the budget experienced a massive overshoot of 300%. In other words, CPI and SPI got their permanent residency in Land < 1.

Several reasons can be found to explain the enormous delay and skyrocketing costs. The list below captures the most significant.

1. Bankruptcy of the construction planning agency halfway through the project.
2. Poor estimation of check-in counters. Planned at 60 pax/h, the test run yielded just half.
3. Safety issues related to the placement of smoke exhaust systems located under the ground, instead of on the ceiling. How no one noticed the big mistake until it was too late remains unknown.
4. Numerous bribe accusations between contractors and politicians (the latter acted as project managers...).
5. Failing to timely request the needed permissions to operate the underground station.
6. Insolvency of Air Berlin, which was planning to use this airport as its main hub.
7. Additional issues with building safety related to incorrect wiring and placement of sprinklers.

The failure is such that the family of Willy Brandt – German chancellor after whom the airport is named – requested the authorities to remove his name from the airport. Time will tell whether this airport will be able to bloom in the future, just like it happened to the Opera House. In the meantime, this project can be depicted in the books as an example of what not to do or avoid in order to deliver a successful project.