Thermowalls for a discount newbuild in Tuttlingen

Six discount supermarket chains operate a total of more than 15,000 stores in Germany, and their number increases every year. The trading groups involved are trying to expand further, especially in municipal and suburban regions. In addition to enlarging their digital presence with online shops and modernization, as well as by converting existing stores, retail companies are increasingly concentrating on construction of new, state-of-the-art stores. A prime example for this is the opening of a new discount market in Tuttlingen in the southern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. To adhere to the planned record construction goal of only six months, the planners decided on the use of high-tech precast elements for the skeleton structure.

For replacing this 20-year old discount market in Tuttlingen, the operator planned the construction of a newbuild of a supermarket as well as the associated outdoor facilities in the center of the city. Beginning in the middle of October 2024, a new store was erected on a total plot size of approx. 7,150 m² ­­— a one-story building with a flat and pent roof. Inside are a sales area, the stocking area, the delivery area, an area for collection of returnable bottles, the first-stage baking area, a deep-freeze cell, various corridors, a staff room, a filing room as well as toilet facilities.

Thermowalls instead of brick

Since it was necessary to complete numerous preparatory works on the building site before start of construction work was possible, groundbreaking for the newbuild was delayed up until mid-October 2024. Mathias Vögele of the architectural firm Vögele, located in Constance in Germany, explains the reason for the delay: “It was first necessary to demolish a production building on the construction site. We then had to drive piles to stabilize the ground. As next step, we excavated and removed 10,000 m³ of earth by truck and improved the foundation soil by means of liming. All this required valuable time, and the construction start had to be postponed until autumn. But we still met the construction deadline. Completion of the skeleton structure before the winter break was our target for reaching this objective.”

 For this reason, the planners decided on short-time replanning and on erection of the skeleton structure with precast elements. Instead of erecting the approx. 1,900 m² of walls conventionally with bricks, they were built with industrially precast Thermowall elements rom the Syspro group member Egon Elsässer Bauindustrie GmbH & Co. KG located in the city of Geisingen nearby. Precast elements in the form of semi-precast floor slabs were used. The Syspro thermal wall elements are integrated precast elements comprised of two concrete shells containing an insulation layer (10 cm of EPS, WLG 035) which can be functionally supplemented with electrical installations and pipe registers for cooling and heating. By virtue of the core insulation, integrated in the precast plant, and by using stainless steel diagonals and/or round GRP bars for connecting the inner and outer shells, it was possible to install exterior walls that satisfy the strictest requirements of thermal protection without requiring an external composite insulation system. Following casting, the hardened overall cross-sections consisting of inner shell and core act as a monolithically manufactured wall.

Construction time reduced by seven weeks

“In this way, the construction time, alone of the skeleton structure, could be reduced by approx. four weeks, compared to conventional construction methods,” explains Mathias Vögele. “By adding the time rendering and the time required for hardening the walls, we saved three additional weeks.” Erection of the Thermowall elements and the floor elements took place in only three weeks. Johannes Villing of the construction company Georg Schwarz GmbH from Tuttlingen elaborates: “Delivery of the Syspro elements from the precast plant Egon Elsässer took place “just in time” and ensured a smooth flow of construction work without long waiting times. Another plus point: the preassembled installations enable subsequent interior work in a way not possible with brick walls.”

Mathias Vögele answered the question as to whether precast construction was more expensive than the originally planned brick construction: “Not at all. When considering all the relevant parameters, the costs are about the same.” Not least thanks to the precast element solution with the Syspro elements for the carcass, we were able to open the new model supermarket on Stockacher Strasse in Tuttlingen on 10 April 2025.