EV hypercar manufacturer and electric technology specialist, Rimac Group, has begun construction of its €200M state-of-the-art global HQ in Zagreb, Croatia, with completion scheduled for 2023. Named the Rimac Campus, the company believes it will be not just an impressive combined R&D and production facility in the context of the automotive industry, but one of the largest in Europe, with a built area of 100,000m2 on a 200,000m2 site.
The complex will serve as the company’s international R&D and production base, enabling the company to ramp up from prototype and smaller volume projects, to high-volume production of its high-performance electric drivetrain and battery systems for global car companies. The Campus will also serve as the production base for all future Rimac models and their key components, including the Rimac Nevera.
Featuring an on-site test track, design, engineering, production and testing facilities, the striking buildings and greenery have been designed by 3LHD, a well-known Croatian architectural practice. Other features of the complex include an urban ‘swamp’, meadows with farm animals, plus a rooftop garden, a command centre, VR rooms, an auditorium, conference hall, education rooms, and several top-secret project rooms. A high-end customisation showroom, museum, plus bar and retail space will also feature on the campus.
The Campus will also serve as the production base for all future Rimac models and their key components, including the Rimac Nevera
Rimac values employee wellbeing and learning, which will benefit from the on-campus games room, gym and training centre, restaurant and kindergarten.
Rimac’s founder and CEO, Mate Rimac, first imagined the project 10 years ago. He explained, “Ever since I founded the company, building the best possible working environment was key to me. It is more natural to create great products when one is in the right surroundings. With the Campus we want to do exactly that – create the best environment for working and creativity, but not only for our employees. This is a place where customers, students and the general public are welcome and invited to mingle with our employees. We also take great care to integrate the facility into nature and its surroundings and to be carbon neutral.
“Croatia will always be our home and to begin laying the foundations of our new long-term base is a huge milestone as we build something that allows us to best reflect our brand, ambitions and be a springboard for growth over the next decade and beyond,” he added. “Strengthening our position as a hypercar maker, as well as a leading Tier 1 supplier of electric performance technology to the world’s largest automotive manufacturers, we can’t wait to show off the final creation and move into our long-term home.”
Rimac has grown in size rapidly over the past decade, and to allow for further growth, the site has been designed to enable expansion over time, while still blending in with its natural surroundings. In the long term, the site will accommodate over 2,500 employees and substantial production facilities – well over double the company’s current headcount.
Work in progress: How the Rimac Campus looks in November 2021
