Description

The Kaufmann Holz company had premises with a variety of buildings following no clear layout. In the Bobingen industrial park near Augsburg the company required a simple hall with crane tracks for the storage, final treatment and commissioning of laminated timber. Apart from a fast-track building schedule – planning and construction took five months – the main task was to find a structural solution with simple details. On the one hand, the building had to be tailored for different uses; on the other hand, it had to be flexible to accommodate potential future changes within the timber processing company. Despite the down-to-earth theme of the building, the client wanted a structure which would match the claim of being among Europe’s leading timber manufacturing companies. A plain, rectangular volume of 43 m x 76 m and roughly 10 m height was built.

Doubled glulam columns in the form of Vierendeel trusses are placed at 6 m center to center. The rows of columns create a two-bay hall. Since the twin columns are fairly wide and are re­strained in the foundations with steel sheets, they provide transverse stiffening of the hall. The top chords of the Vierendeel columns support the roof structure, the lower chords accept the loads of the two crane tracks. The middle row of columns carries a truss, which in turn supports the roof structure. The primary bearing structure for the 40 mm thick roof boarding consists of a single layer of slim laminated timber girders positioned at 2 m spacing. Steel cross bracings in the longitudinal façades, three-layer laminates as roof boarding in some areas, and the longitudinal girders as well as the crane tracks provide longitudinal reinforcement of the structure. A gangway for the crane operator is fit between the chords of the middle columns, allowing five cranes on two parallel tracks to be monitored and operated in both bays of the hall. Independent of the timber structure, steel platforms were introduced into the two-storey sawing and planing area, which can be removed at a later stage. Where it was possible, building materials like formwork panels, glulam timber, three-layer laminates, etc. were used; they are produced in various Kaufmann timber plants. Dimensions and construction details were de­signed to suit the special para­meters of the hall.

The bearing structure received a cladding of translucent honeycomb panels made of polycarbonate. The diffuse light entering the hall from all sides creates a pleasant light intensity. The rectangular building height polycarbonate panels are joined with tongue and groove. At the base point they are restrained, and sliding at the top to allow for thermal movement. The panels are fixed to façade rails suspended from steel rods with concealed metal brackets. Through the translucent façade the inside of the hall – the production processes, materials and building structure – can be observed from the outside. And vice versa: the exterior has also a strong im­pact on the interior: the patterns of light seeping through trees and the movement of vehicles create a particular atmosphere. The exterior fa­çade takes on a different appearance depending on the point of view and the light conditions: when seen from an angle it looks like a shiny surface; when standing right in front of it a slender structure becomes apparent, and at night the hall emits light from within.

The great number of gates, some of them positioned right next to each other, gave rise to a sliding construction. The hall is ventilated via these gates as well as emergency exits and roof smoke vents. Additionally, the great thermal mass of the reinforced fiber concrete floor slab prevents excessive solar gain during summer.

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Originally published in: Jürgen Adam, Katharina Hausmann, Frank Jüttner, Industrial Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2004.