Holcim

HumboldtHafenEins: top-class sustainability performance

Situated in the heart of Berlin, directly at the waterfront, right next to Berlin Main Station – these are the key attributes that characterize the outstandingly central location of new office building HumboldtHafen-Eins. While this is certainly a very attractive proposition, it also required utmost care in the design process because diverging interests needed to be reconciled. For instance, the building should enable smooth office operation whilst providing public access to the waterfront and elegantly integrating itself into its urban surroundings.

The design elaborated by Frankfurt-based practice KSP – Jürgen Engel Architekten meets all these requirements. It responds to the brief provided in the master and development plans, which specified a building with a courtyard structure in this location. By contrast, the design presented by the architects opens up the narrow courtyards to the outside. This is why all rental units of this new, seven- to eight-story building (with a gross floor area of about 30,000 m2) enjoy views of either Humboldthafen or the Spree river. The cubature of this building strengthens the perimeter area, which fulfils an important urban function. At the same time, the design complies with the stringent environmental requirements defined by the client. The property ranks among the ten most sustainable buildings in Germany.

Bright white façade

Hentschke Bau GmbH was contracted with the manufacture of the façade cladding. This company has gained extensive experience in similar projects; it has been collaborating with the University of Chemnitz to develop a concrete recipe that makes it possible to produce extremely thin and bright white façade elements. Among other constituents, this mix design contains white cement supplied by Holcim (Slovensko) a.s., which the manufacturer sells under the Holcim White brand. This Portland cement is extremely low in iron and provides a large number of benefits compared to its gray counterpart. For instance, it beautifully accentuates the mineral aggregates contained in the concrete (such as marble or limestone), an aspect that the architects were able to utilize as a design element.

If concrete produced with Holcim White is integrally colored by adding pigments, brilliant colors can be achieved that clearly surpass the appearance of concrete manufactured with gray cement. In terms of its technical characteristics, Holcim White does not differ from conventional Portland cement grades as it reaches the same strength parameters. Overall, the contractor is producing about 6,000 precast panels to cover the 14,000 m² façade of the building.

Smooth, pore-free surface

The architects decided to design the concrete panels in many different ways to create an ingenious light distribution pattern and to lend an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the façade surface. This is why about 100 different panel shapes were conceived. Precast panels were produced in varying lengths and thicknesses; some of them project from the façade surface whereas others are recessed. Some of the elements are 3.80 m high and 1.15 m wide. Panels are usually only 20 to 30 mm thick, and this thickness is even reduced to 8 mm on their projecting edges. Hentschke Bau staff added glass fibers to the concrete to achieve this impeccable result. This is why the concrete was less susceptible to segregation and became more moldable. Furthermore, the elements produced from this concrete provide greater tensile strength and exhibit a lesser degree of shrinkage cracking.

Yet it is not only the material’s slenderness but also its cross-section that posed a big challenge to the Hentschke Bau teams. On the one hand, the architects arranged the façade panels in quite a playful manner; on the other hand, the joint between the pilaster strips and the parapets should always be 15 mm wide, requiring very complex geometries to be conceived for some of the panels. Hentschke Bau solved this problem by stringent 3D design and a proprietary formwork technology developed in-house. This is why the contractor succeeded in producing bright white façade elements whose exposed side is almost pore-free and smooth. The specially designed formwork system also ensured absolutely perfect element edges on their visible sides.

Text:

Dipl.-Ing. Claudia El Ahwany

x

Related articles:

Issue 08/2012

Façade refurbishment with brilliant white HPC

When asked what is typical for Frankfurt, many think of apple wine, green sauce and the numerous bank buildings that characterize the skyline of the city. One of these high-rise buildings is currently...

more
Issue 10/2017 Dyckerhoff Weiss

Smooth-formed façade from white concrete

The concrete façade manufactured by Systembau Eder from Peuerbach on the basis of Dycker­hoff Weiss Decor and interspersed with round window openings arranged in a regular pattern is truly an...

more
Issue 02/2020 DYCKERHOFF

Open façade made of white concrete with titanium dioxide

With the construction of the new branch building in Oberriet located in Eastern Switzerland, Raiffeisenbank Oberes Rheintal has shown courage in innovative architecture. The building designed by the...

more
Issue 02/2018 Silhouette International in Linz/Ah

Precast façade in white concrete

The objectives of the architect were to establish, first, a reference between the outer appearance of the plant building and the products – spectacles – to be manufactured inside upon completion, as...

more
Issue 06/2018 FISCHER & PARTNER/POLYCON

Glass fiber concrete façade for Motel One in Berlin

Alexanderplatz in Berlin is one of the most important tourist attractions of the German capital. Its therefore not surprising that this area is also of interest to hotels – nor that the Motel One...

more