Description

Under the overall theme of “communication”, the trade fair concept of Deutsche Messe AG pursued various objectives that the exhibition halls had to meet: the halls were supposed to be large structures with transparent and appealing low-energy building envelopes. Construction was to be based on sustainable principles such as the use of regenerative resources, and natural lighting and ventilation systems.

Trade Fair Hall 26 – one of the world’s four largest exhibition halls – was equipped with an innovative ventilation system to ensure natural air exchange. While most exhibition halls have a mixed ventilation system, in this case the air exchange works vertically from the bottom to the top.

Thomas Herzog developed a building which relies on few technical elements. Daylight enters the hall through the large glazed areas at its northern side and via skylights. The structure and outline of the building mainly follow the requirements of natural air-conditioning and use of daylight. The architect’s conceptual idea – to provide natural ventilation of the hall through a roof-shape with high and low points – led to a three-bay structure with an array of suspended roofs. While cool air enters the building through the lower part of the façade the heated air rises up, gathers under the roof, and escapes at the three highest points. The roofs are suspended between four sturdy rows of A-frames positioned at a distance of 60 m. The roof areas consist of load-bearing flat steel bands; between these bands span linked rubble-filled timber sandwich panels with a high dead-load leading to large forces within the steel bands and, accordingly, to massive cross sections of the abutments.

The load-bearing structure subdivides the interior of the hall into three large column-free and flexible exhibition areas separated by narrow corridors along the steel pylons. The building’s particular appeal stems from the interplay and contrast between the expressive exterior and the calm interior.

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