_completion
11/2000–10/2001
building completion 2002

_data
gross cubic volume 18,411 m³, usable floor space 3,148 m², construction volume (cost class 300+400 net) 4.2 Mio Euro

_client
Pollmeier Massivholz GmbH

_{structural engineering}
Prof. Pfeiffer + Partner, Darmstadt

_{energy concept, building services engineering}
Solares Bauen GmbH, Freiburg i. Br.

_photos
Thomas Eicken, Mühltal

The Pollmeier Massivholz GmbH is an export-oriented medium sized wood processing company with 700 employees. The head office is located in Creuzburg (next to Eisenach) where 100 employees are situated. The design of the new administration building for the company required optimal working conditions through natural and artificial lighting as well as a comfortable atmospheric environment.

Pollmeier Massivholz GmbH saw the new administration building as an opportunity to fully restructure the premises of the company. On the north side of the building, 39 newly planted oak trees seperate the administration building from the production areas. On the south side, the building connects to the rural landscape of the Werra valley. 

The entire concept of the building is based on open communication and transparency. Using minimal building technology, a maximum amount of energy efficiency is achieved with 65% less primary energy demands than that of a regular building.   

Meeting rooms, service rooms and a cafeteria are grouped together on the ground floor around a central three-storey atrium. 

The offices on the upper floors are also oriented towards the central atrium and are well lit through the generous amount of glazed surfaces. 

Over 1,500 fabric-covered panels in 17 different colors, that are grouped together and hanged on the walls of the individual office areas, positively influence the visual appearance and the acoustics of the building. 

The visual impact of the fabric-covered panels changes depending on the time of day and season. In Autumn for example, the colors correspond differently to the surrounding nature then in the Spring. 

The visual impact of the colors changes throughout the course of the day – the subtle change enriches the atmosphere of the interior space. 

The location of the panels were carefully selected and placed based on their format, size, proportion, quantity, density, surface, texture, reflectivity and connectivity with adjacent color fields.

Access to the production line

The black façade panels made of fiber cement strongly contrast with the glazed base of the building. Together with Solares Bauen GmbH/Fraunhofe ISE, we calculated the optimum ratio of closed and glazed façade elements. The façade has a unified identity despite the varied proportions of the glazed surfaces ranging from 27 to 52 percent. The façade scaffolding is made of prefabricated, two-storey steel structures standing on two supporting reinforced concrete columns.  

The technical concept was developed together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems and Solares Bauen GmbH (Freiburg). It follows the ideal concept of a ‘lean building’ that’s heating demand amounts to only 32 kWh/m² and meets the requirements of a high-quality, low-energy building. Minimal energy consumption is achieved through the use of minimal and optimized building services. A pleasant room climate is also maintained: warm in the winter and cold in the summer with only very little and gradual temperature changes. 

A floor heating system, that’s heat is provided by the company’s very own wood-fuelled furnace, heats the atrium. Prefabricated concrete elements increase the amount of thermal storing mass of the frame construction and divide the large open space from the group office spaces. Ventilation grilles above the windows bring, without pre-tempering, fresh air into the offices. Exhaust air is sucked out of the building in the ceiling of the central service-building core. The ventilation system also enables over-night cooling during the summer.