State-of-the-art research campus: light-filled new building becomes a new focal point
12th Rigips Trophy 2019 | 2020: Okel GmbH & Co. KG wins silver trophy
The Sartorius Group is a leading development partner and supplier to the biopharmaceutical research and industrial sectors. The company's robust growth has made its former production and administrative site in the north of Göttingen too small. Since 2016, a new, state-of-the-art campus has therefore been under construction to the west of the Lower Saxony university city. Spanning around 170,000 m² – equivalent to 23 football pitches – the site comprises various production buildings, laboratories, logistics facilities and a large car park for employees. One of the newest buildings is the "Sartorius Forum". It forms the inviting centre of the campus. It houses a large demonstration laboratory, 400 office workstations and the new company cafeteria with seating for up to 500 people. Dry construction contractor Burkhard Okel and project manager Mirko Rohdenburg report on the sometimes challenging construction process, for which they won the silver trophy in the 12th Rigips Trophy.
Floor plan and cross-section of the new Sartorius Forum. Plans: Bünemann & Collegen GmbH
The dry construction work alone was scheduled to take about a year. During this period, Okel GmbH & Co. KG had up to 70 employees active on site at times. "It was especially our experienced finishing teams who helped repeatedly to compensate for construction-related disruptions and delays and to keep to the strict schedule", explains managing director Burkhard Okel. "Also advantageous was the proven, well-practised cooperation between client, construction management, planning, and project control. Many of those involved in the construction had already realised other projects on the Sartorius Campus together, ensuring absolutely smooth coordination processes."
The new Forum houses both a large demonstration laboratory and 400 office workstations, as well as the new company cafeteria with up to 500 seats. Photo: förderraum Architekten + Planer, Henry Koch
Multiple challenges
There were plenty of challenges to overcome, not least because of the diverse usage requirements of the new Forum. The building comprises two areas: the main building, which has 3,460 m² of floor space, and the single-storey dining hall on the west side, which has approximately 870 m². At the heart of the building is the central, multi-storey glass atrium, which features stairs and walkways providing functional and attractive access to the upper floors. On the ground floor, the atrium serves as a spacious entrance hall to the office and laboratory areas. The adjacent cafeteria, which includes a café and bistro, is intended as a meeting place for employees and visitors. Both the entrance hall and the cafeteria can also be used for special events and company meetings. These scenarios were therefore taken into detailed consideration in the fire protection concept for the Sartorius Forum.
"The specifications of the fire protection concept were only one of the challenges in the Forum. The various uses in the different parts of the building also resulted in a series of requirements, especially in terms of room acoustics and design", explains project manager Mirko Rohdenburg. "We were able to impressively demonstrate what is possible today with modern drywall systems." The protective objectives named in the fire protection concept had to be ensured by technical systems, organisational measures, but primarily by building measures. During the construction phase, there was continuous coordination with all specialist planners and regular inspections by the involved fire protection experts. This placed particularly high demands on the drywall construction. Thanks to pre-coordinated certificates of usability for various building components and types, especially with regard to technical installations, fire safety closures, and requirements from building codes and fire protection concepts, all requirements could be comprehensively met with the selected systems.
Access from the atrium to the cafeteria: An automatic fire protection curtain had to be integrated into the substructure in the ceiling area. Photos: förderraum Architekten + Planer, Henry Koch
Together with technicians from RIGIPS, fire protection linings were developed for load-bearing and bracing structures, for cable ducts, installation and ventilation ducts, as well as for suitable wall and ceiling constructions that had to meet requirements up to F 120. In order to ensure spacious use of the areas, especially in the assembly sections, automatic fire protection curtains also had to be safely installed in the suspended ceilings. Particularly complex, for example, was the creation of the substructure for the fire protection curtain that separates the atrium from the dining hall in the event of fire. The ventilation ducts that, by necessity, had to run above the fire protection curtain required the development of a special steel substructure. This substructure had to reliably provide room separation, thermal insulation, structural stability as a load-bearing component, and the necessary technical requirements for routing fire-protective L-shaped ducts. The entire structure was additionally subjected to a special approval procedure due to deviations from the test certificates, supported by expert statements.
Fireproof, sound-insulating, robust
The full expertise of the drywall professionals was required especially in the construction of the different partition walls. While wall systems with increased structural demands regarding the handling of cantilever loads, wall heights, and surface hardness were required in public areas, in the office and administrative areas the goal was to implement slim, space-saving partitions with sufficient sound and fire protection properties. "Accordingly, we used a wide range from the RIGIPS product portfolio. In the cafeteria, for example, we used "Rigips Die Harte" – as the name suggests, a hard gypsum board with particularly robust surfaces. But complete special solutions were also implemented in drywall for the cold rooms in the kitchen, which is designed to cater for up to 1,200 meals per shift. In that case, we used wet room systems with special fibre-reinforced Rigips Glasroc X boards and insulation for sub-zero temperatures", says Mirko Rohdenburg.
Folding technology with acute-angled edges, as well as special profiles and combined angles and radial sections used as light coves and channels. Photos: förderraum Architekten + Planer, Henry Koch
In the office areas, the partitions were typically clad on both sides with double layers of Rigips construction boards (RB) and fitted with infill made from non-combustible mineral wool. In rooms with particularly high requirements for sound insulation, the special sound-insulating board Rigips Die Blaue was also used. The design of the various ceiling areas was equally important for the acoustic quality and user comfort. Here, too, the expertise of the Okel team was called for: in the dining hall, for example, a roughly 1,200 m² acoustic ceiling with acoustic plaster, installed horizontally, inclined, and vertically, ensures a pleasant ambience. In the hallways and conference rooms, Rigips perforated ceilings (Rigitone Activ’Air 12/25 Q) and acoustically effective ceiling rafts (Ecophon Focus DS) provide good speech intelligibility.
Freely formable systems for flexible room usage
Apart from fire and sound protection requirements, the design expertise of Burkhard Okel and his staff was also in demand throughout the building. "Some walls in the office areas were built as freely formable systems, making flexible room usage possible. In addition, a variety of folding parts were either produced on-site or in our own workshop. And of course, light also plays a special role; it was intended to meet both functional and aesthetic demands everywhere. In the kitchen, for example, there are self-supporting, multifunctional ventilation ceilings into which we integrated a suitable lighting system. The walkway areas in the dining hall are mirrored in the ceiling design with stepped contours, while the lighting design features built-in spotlights, light channels with indirect illumination, and large-format pendant luminaires with gold-colored reflectors. In the office areas, light accents in the coves highlight edges, visually defining open spaces. This interplay of light and sightlines is supported by open interior architecture, which repeatedly reveals views, for instance through floor-to-ceiling glass partitions", explains Burkhard Okel.
Top-quality workmanship in every detail. Photo: förderraum Architekten + Planer, Henry Koch
The assessment of managing director Burkhard Okel and project manager Mirko Rohdenburg was echoed by the jury of the 12th Rigips Trophy 2019 I 2020: "A project that showcases the entire range of what is possible today with modern drywall systems", was the expert verdict that awarded the expansion of the new Sartorius Forum with the silver trophy. On one hand, the numerous fire and sound protection challenges were met with impressive solutions. On the other hand, the targeted development of the variously used spaces testifies to the flexibility and deep expertise of the drywall specialists from Diemelstadt, as stated by the jury.
Project Data
Client: SIV Grone 1 GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen
Planning: Bünemann & Collegen GmbH, Hannover
Drywall contractor: Okel GmbH & Co. KG, Diemelstadt
Regional Manager at RIGIPS: Henning Häusler, Saint-Gobain Rigips GmbH
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