Roman Bodenmüller
Head of Construction & Building Services
At Messe Friedrichshafen for 6 years
Exhibition venue: Messe Roof
An interview at 26 meters high: We meet Roman for a chat on the roof of Hall A1, the largest hall at the Friedrichshafen fairgrounds. He stands there, relaxed and seemingly unfazed by the height, as if this is a perfectly normal place for a meeting. “Aren't you scared up here?” we ask him. “Nah,” he grins. Only the roof of the administration building, with its iconic “Messe cube,” is taller than A1. Roman has been up there too, admitting: “I don't necessarily have to go all the way to the edge, though...”. As the head of construction and building services, Roman knows every nook and cranny of the fairgrounds like the back of his hand. And yet: “On every walkthrough, I still find a room I’ve never been in before.” The unbeatable aspect for him is the spectacular view from the roof: “On a clear day, you can see from the airport, across Lake Constance, all the way to Säntis.” Even after six years at the fair, this fascination never fades.
From up here, you can see the hustle and bustle of the fairgrounds during a transition phase between two events: “Most people underestimate how long the preparations take. Few know that the event tech guys start setting up four weeks before a fair begins,” Roman explains. Yet sometimes, it all comes down to the last minute, he knows. “One day the hall is empty, and 24 hours later, everything is in perfect order. No matter how tight the deadline, I’ve never experienced us opening a fair late even once.”
From the roof, we head down into the network of corridors and shafts beneath the exhibition halls – the “heart” of the fairgrounds, as Roman calls it. Here, all the cables converge and supply the exhibition stands with electricity, compressed air, water, and internet via the media channels running lengthwise under the hall floors. A total of 1,000 kilometers of power cables are laid here, Roman explains: “That’s enough to go from Lake Constance to the Baltic Sea.”
Setup, modification, teardown – that’s the trade fair business, and it’s what makes the job so exciting for Roman: “Every two weeks, it’s a new setup, new people, new experiences – it never gets boring,” he says. And every task is important – from the smallest screw to the suspension from the hall ceiling. That also includes maintaining the central facilities year-round: “The work of my department is pretty much invisible,” says the head of construction and building services. “Our job is to keep the grounds running and maintained throughout the year. The heating needs to work reliably in winter, and the cooling in summer.” He doesn’t necessarily need to walk the 12 halls and 87,500 sqm of exhibition space by foot: “It’s pretty cool. At the push of a button, I can control the entire grounds from my office using the building management system – like the shading or ventilation. Or scare a colleague by turning off the lights remotely,” he grins. But when he does walk the grounds (with a keen eye), nothing escapes him: Potential hazards are inspected, suppliers are guided to the right gate, service providers are coordinated, and tasks are assigned on the fly. “Every little thing matters,” Roman concludes.
