The Wintergartenareal is the new company headquarter of Leipzig’s Housing and Construction Association (LWB) and symbolizes the sustainable realignment of the company. The modern headquarter’s façade consists of glass elements combined with Novelis pre-painted Aluminum ff2. For the façade the planning team chose Novelis coil-coated aluminium ff2® composed of an AIMg3 (5754) alloy it’s strength and flatness. The pre-painted panels of 2mm thickness in the color shades bronze, beige and grey metallic have proved outstanding weather-resistance and colour retention due to its durable PVdF coating. In total 10,500sqm of Novelis Aluminum sheet provides a sleek and modern appearance to the new headquarter building.
The façade elements were formed into a three dimensional form and fastened with screws in the bottom beads of the cassettes. The vertical columns at the large sides of the building extend over two floors, the horizontal ones connecting to the building edges. Where the horizontal and vertical columns meet, three dimensional intersections posed a major constructive challenge. A customised sub-construction was essential which was supplied by BWM Dübel und Montagetechnik located in Leinfelden-Echterdingen (Germany).
The construction of the three-dimensional cassettes give the façade a visual depth. The two large scaled building sides on the northern and western front invite natural light into all seven floors and with the opposite façade surfaces only rising to three floors, thus allowing the inner courtyard to enjoy the daylight. Wintergartenareal is a groundbreaking architectural façade concept for historical city areas. Such 3D-façades made from combined construction materials will pique the architects’ creativity and desire for more buildings of this type.