A vacuum treatment apparatus and method for manufacturing has a plurality of treatment chambers for treating workpieces, in particular silicon wafers, a transfer chamber attached to the treatment chambers communicating via respective openings and having handling zones located adjacent to each of the treatment chambers. A workpiece carrier is arranged within the transfer chamber and configured to transfer the workpieces between the handling zones, and one or more handlers for moving the workpieces between the handling zones and the treatment chambers. The transfer chamber is ring-shaped about an axis and the openings have opening substantially parallel thereto. This way, forces on the transfer chamber are redirected to a large support structure and thus, a cost-effective, light and still rigid mechanical construction can be achieved.