Lenkwerk 1

Textile facade - Innovative load-bearing structure meets identity

At the LENKWERK site in Bielefeld, an extraordinary office building was created that combines architecture and technology. Hillebrandt realised the complete textile facade for KPMG as the user and the Borchard Group as the investor – from structural planning to installation. The project sets standards in terms of function, lightness and design quality. The special feature: a free-hanging, column-free construction.

Project description

The textile building envelope of LENKWERK 1 combines architectural clarity with structural sophistication. The entire façade is designed without a vertical load-bearing structure and is supported solely by a system of tension and compression rods. The area of around 2,000 m² is divided into 93 customised textile fabric panels mounted on individually manufactured steel frames.

These rigid frames – over 100 of them – are integrated into a support system that is suspended from the façade entirely via horizontal ASDO tension and compression rods. The textile fabrics are incorporated into aluminium tension profiles. In total, over 3,700 metres of powder-coated aluminium profiles were installed, 322 tension and compression rods were used and all components were prefabricated in the factory. The entire façade construction was planned, manufactured and installed with the utmost precision – taking into account the high structural requirements and design specifications of the architects Jonek & Dressler from Bielefeld.

A particular highlight is the integrated façade lighting, which impressively emphasises the contours of the building at night using linear LED lighting along the geometry of the building. The lighting technology was integrated directly into the tension profiles and forms a harmonious overall system with the textile surface.

Data / facts

Client:
Borchard Group, Bielefeld
Architect:
Jonek & Dressler Architekten, Bielefeld
Construction time:
2021 – 2022
Facade area:
ca. 2.000 m²
Special features:
The textile façade consists of over 1,000 components and is suspended from tension and compression tubes without any supports. The construction is based on rigid frames without continuous corner profiles, made of tubular steel and aluminium profiles.
The following were used:
322 ASDO tension and compression rods, 93 fabric panels made of Serge Ferrari FT 381. 3,750 m powder-coated tension profiles

Statement

“With this project, we were able to demonstrate our expertise in the field of complex, self-supporting façade systems. The close combination of design, statics and system solution is an expression of our aspiration to realise architecture with technical substance.”
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