Towers

Energy and Future Storage

© sbp/Mathias Widmayer

At the former site of the old gas storage tank, sbp, together with LAVA and the Heidelberg municipal utilities, realized an energy and future storage facility. The tensioned cable net façade spans a 50-meter-high cylinder with a diameter of 25 meters like a second skin. The structure is used to store district heating water and is thus part of the new, flexible energy system, as well as a building block and a central element in the value chain of local energy supply.
The sustainable framework is also demonstrated by the dynamic appearance of the sculpture in its multiple uses, as it also serves as a viewing platform. The staircase winds helically between the facade of the storage tank and the cable net, spanning freely upwards. Together with the cable net, the staircase stabilizes the entire shell. The high-strength, galvanized-coated cables of the cable net facade are arranged in triangular meshes. The resulting net is held by the “crown” at the upper cylindrical edge of the district heating storage tank. In addition, with its 15 supports and the cross braces built in between, it forms a rigid truncated cone that transfers the vertical and horizontal loads to the storage tank. Thousands of small rhombic panels are suspended in the mesh of the cable net, which swing in the wind and thus generate a dynamic surface that is visible even in the dark thanks to low-energy LED lights. With its special façade construction and viewing platform, the storage facility is a tourist attraction and at the same time a technical and aesthetic symbol for the city’s transition to renewable energies.

Categories
Towers
Location
Heidelberg, Germany
Architect
LAVA Laboratory for Visionary Architecture
Owner
Stadtwerke Heidelberg
Project Responsibility
Knut Stockhusen

Insights

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Technical Data

Height
56 m
Vertical cables
2 x 30 pcs.
Diameter 30.9 mm
Horizontal cables
14 pcs.
Diameter 17.4 mm

Lectures

Awards

Location

Google Maps

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