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- Facade with dynamic effect and firm hold
In mid-2023, after four years and four months of construction, POST Luxembourg officially inaugurated its new headquarters “HELIX”, designed by metaform architects (Luxembourg). The building is named after a 30-metre-high spiral staircase in the shape of a helix. The headquarters of the national postal and telecommunications company is located in the bustling train station district on the “Place de la Gare”. With around 4,500 employees, the POST Luxembourg Group is an important employer in the country, of which 850 employees have been working in the new building since the beginning of 2023. On an area of 27,700 m², the building houses nine floors and four basements, which include an atrium, a sales point for customers, offices, meeting rooms and lounges.
The zero-emission building has been awarded the Platinum certification by the German Society for Sustainable Building (DGNB). This is one of the highest environmental certifications available at the time. In order to meet the strict criteria, the temperature is regulated by means of an ice storage and heat recovery system. PV modules, rainwater recovery, automated lighting management, the use of local and natural materials, climate control via active tiles, energy-efficient high-performance glass and other measures also support the sustainability of the building.
The existing Accinauto building on the corner of “Rue d'Épernay” from the 1950s was integrated into the new building. Its listed facade was originally preserved. The HELIX building was also built on existing foundations and in the hull, saving 8,600 m³ of concrete. The roof of the Accin car is clad with the same vertical stone lisers made of light natural stone as the newly built facade. The transition between the two houses is seamless.
In the process, the stone lisenes transition in waves from the sloping roof of the Accinauto into the vertical facade of the new building to the south. This wave movement makes the facade appear dynamic together with the different depths of the vertical slab elements. The building looks vibrant and always different depending on the lighting situation. By taking up the material of the surrounding natural stone facades in a modern design, the new building skilfully blends in with the surroundings. The glazed basement floor, on the other hand, opens up to the surrounding area due to its transparency. Metallic facade elements on parts of the building envelope also give the new building a modern look.
A special technical feature was the overhang of the design of more than 350 mm. The challenge was overcome with above-average holder radii. In addition to the matching products, we successfully supported the VHF design with accompanying services and provided static verification for all three metallic clothing materials.
Annen plus S.A. (Manternach), a specialist in facade and window construction projects, was commissioned to plan, manufacture and assemble the entire exterior shell, including the stone lice structure, the outdoor terraces, plant beds and the interior atrium facade. The building envelope with the existing steel structure was closed by post-bar facades with an area of 3,030 m². More than 900 wood-aluminium windows were also installed on around 5,300 m².
A curtained ventilated facade (VHF) was clad with modern metallic elements on approximately 2,100 m2. Stretch metal panels, vertical Alinel aluminium panels and aluminium composite ACM cassettes were used as cladding materials.
Annen relied on fischer BWM facade systems for the fastening of the metallic facade elements. The facade builders implemented the substructure vertically with ATK 101 and ATK 100 profiles as well as ATK 100 and ATK 101 wall brackets made of stainless steel “WAWI” for short. fischer long-shaft anchors SXR 10 x 60 FUS in stainless steel anchor the wall brackets of the support system securely in the support structure. Approximately 10,000 wall brackets and 6,500 running metres of anodised ATK 100 profiles were used to design the VHF substructure.
