Last week, the world’s first supermarket made of infra-lightweight concrete opened its doors to the public in Berlin. We are proud that our project has now come to a successful completion after four years of planning and construction supervision. Managing Director Boris Reyher from our Berlin Office was present at the opening and congratulated everyone involved on the successful project.
A very special replacement building for an existing supermarket was constructed for the REWE Group in Berlin-Friedrichshain. Together with the architects Baumgardt Franke from Leipzig, schlaich bergermann partner developed the concept for the sustainable building.
The front, single-story section of the building houses the barrier-free accessible market area with a size of almost 2,000 square meters. On an intermediate level in the southern and eastern market area are the utility rooms as well as the direct connection to the existing building.
The special feature of the building are the exterior walls made of infra-lightweight concrete. Due to the special characteristics of the material, the 40-50cm thick walls do not require an additional insulation layer. Furthermore, the use of cladding or plaster is not necessary. Therefore, the surfaces, on the outside as well as on the inside, were finished in exposed concrete quality. Prof. Mike Schlaich of the Technical University of Berlin (TU) has been researching the material for more than 15 years. “Projects in residential construction and single-story public buildings have already been implemented with infra-light concrete, and the REWE store is now Germany’s first commercial building.”
The roof structure consists of insulated trapezoidal steel sheets on laminated wood trusses with a span of up to 27 meters. The loads are transferred through the exterior walls and in the sales area, selectively supported by reinforced concrete columns, into the foundation. In addition columns and walls in the (existing) underground parking space as well as additional foundations transfer the loads, created by the new building, into the ground.
We are very pleased that with the supermarket another building could be realized with the innovative material and look forward to further projects.
