After its official inauguration in July, the new helicopter landing pad at the Bundeswehr Hospital in Ulm has successfully started operations. The platform replaces a ground landing pad 200m away and enables direct and fast transfer of patients to the emergency room. Hence, the hospital can now provide the highest level of care for severely injured patients.
schlaich bergermann partner, together with hochstrasser. gesellschaft für architektur, was responsible for the engineering and realization of the approximately 860m² platform. Since the steel skeleton structure of the existing building had no load-bearing capacities, the platform had to be constructed independently. The landing surface consists of a girder grid with cable-supported steel girders and heated aluminum panels, which keep the surface always free of snow and ice. It is supported by the 60m high elevator and stair tower made of exposed concrete, connectingthe platform to the shock room protected from the weather. On the other side, the platform is only supported by two slender steel composite columns. The tower area was founded on a 1.4m thick floor slab, while the pendulum supports transfer the loads into the ground via micropiles.
