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A Lot of Innovative Planning Has Gone into the Facade

© [Translate to Hungarian:] Drees & Sommer SE
[Translate to Hungarian:] Sieht gut aus und kann viel: Die neue Fassade der FKN Gruppe, die gemeinsam mit Drees & Sommer entwickelt wurde.
© Drees & Sommer SE
The facade can also be installed in buildings with a height of more than 20 meters.

Stuttgart and Neuenstein, Germany, June 10, 2021. Consulting and planning company Drees & Sommer SE is currently building a showcase property for its own use at Obere Waldplätze 12 in Stuttgart. The new building, known as OWP12 due to its location, is designed to meet all modern requirements for eco-friendliness and digital services. OWP12 is now the very first site to use a new type of modular façade, known as e-coFACE, produced by facade construction company FKN Fassaden. The company has its headquarters in Neuenstein, Hohenlohe district, in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg. The design of the facade was developed together with Drees & Sommer engineers. The special feature is the space-saving building shell, designed on the principles of material cycle planning. It is intended to minimize energy consumption and generate energy itself, while also complying with the very high requirements placed on sound insulation.

Video: New Building OWP 12 Fascination Façade

The New Facade Is Only 210 Millimeters Thick

The solution is a high-performance facade, which is also fitted with photovoltaic panels on the south and west sides to produce energy: ‘By using innovative materials, including sustainable insulation in particular, we have achieved excellent thermal insulation and soundproofing results, and we have done this with a thermal envelope only 90 millimeters thick. Taking into account the photovoltaic panels, the façade implemented for Drees & Sommer has an overall thickness of just 210 millimeters. By contrast, a conventional design would have a total thickness of at least 400 millimeters. The space that we save through this slimline design can be put to good use elsewhere,’ reported architect and façade specialist David Schenke from Drees & Sommer.

Non-Combustible, Making it Also Suitable for Multi-Story Buildings

‘Our innovative facade system will reach market readiness when it is first installed in the new office building OWP12.

Based on its fire safety classification, it is also suitable for use in high-rise construction. This is because the panel is not flammable. As a result, the facade can also be installed in buildings more than 20 meters high,’ reported Franz Ebert, sales manager at FKN Fassaden.

Pollutant-Free, Durable and Recyclable

To minimize resource consumption and waste, Drees & Sommer together with its subsidiary and environmental consulting institute, EPEA, are largely implementing the Cradle to Cradle principle for OWP12, an approach that promotes a systematic circular economy end-to-end.

As everything can be deconstructed into components of the same kind, a process that is planned in detail, the materials can be recycled or reused accordingly after their service life.

Designed as a net plus energy building

As a net plus energy building, the new OWP12 property is designed to generate more energy than it consumes during operation. A highly insulating facade design, photovoltaic systems on the roof and on the southern facade, geothermal heat from boreholes, and a greened northern facade all contribute to making it net plus.

For more information, please see our press release.