Choosing modernisation over newbuild

The Schüco company headquarters has been expanded and restructured continually since 2016. One renovated building is the Digital Hub One office complex, a former production hall which has been modernised according to the principles of New Work, while newbuilds include the Schüco One building designed by architectural practice 3XN and the Schüco carpark with its striking textile façade. After three years of renovation work, the Schüco Corporate Services building was made available to its users, the Finance and IT departments, at the end of 2021.

The complex is comprised of three building structures made of reinforced concrete: a seven-storey construction facing the future company headquarters Schüco One, a six-storey building along Karolinenstraße and a long, two-storey low-rise parallel to Herforder Straße. These three buildings were constructed one-by-one from the 1960s to the 1980s. In 2001, the façade of the complex, which was constructed as a Schüco ribbon window system, received a second suspended skin made of glass and aluminium. The interior of UZB, however, had remained largely unchanged, with its components more or less in their original condition. 

The main reason for the most recent conversion was the fact that the existing building fabric no longer complied with current fire protection requirements. While examining the building further, other technical and functional shortcomings were found, for example with regard to the service and sanitation systems and barrier-free access. Aesthetically speaking, the complex was also in need of an update. The colours of the interior had not been changed since the 1980s, and the suspended ceilings in the corridors and offices were outdated. To add to that, there was a lack of open workspaces and smart, inviting rooms for informal communication. It was clear to Schüco and the Cologne-based architectural practice tr.architekten, who were commissioned to create the design, that the complex was not only in need of technical renovations but would also require a complete refurbishment of the interior.

The reception and foyer and the staircases and lifts were also given a new lease of life. To do this, the existing lift shaft in the centre of the building was removed. A new lift was constructed at the intersection of the three building structures, at the rear-facing courtyard façade. The design team repurposed the extra usable space into open-plan communication zones.

Another key element of the new design was to reinvigorate the façade, which required the existing aluminium components to be dismantled. "With the Schüco Corporate Services building, we've followed a holistic design approach," explains André Schreiber, the architect at Schüco responsible for the project. "This means that the façades should also be long-lasting and timeless. In keeping with the idea of showcasing as many of our products in use as possible on the campus, we have put the Cradle to Cradle-certified AF UDC 80 unitised façade to use for the very first time. "Even with the new building envelope, the three parts of the existing building are still recognisable as distinct structures. At the same time, the unitised façade lends them a muted, homogenous external appearance. In this way, the Schüco Corporate Services building offers a refreshing contrast to the bold and expressive design of the Schüco One newbuild opposite.

As soon as the decision was made to renovate the façade, Schüco was determined to make recycling a priority. The existing façade of the complex from the 1980s and 2000s contained a large amount of aluminium. Schüco is also a founding member of the A|U|F, an association which organises a closed-loop recycling process for aluminium from the window, door and façade industry. It was natural, then, to dismantle all of the aluminium components from the façade and canopy, and feed them back into the A|U|F raw material cycle. In order to ensure that only aluminium was fed into the cycle, the company in charge of demolition collected the individual constituent materials in separate containers as much as possible. The aluminium was then recycled in several container loads by companies belonging to the A|U|F. In total, 28 tonnes of the material were extracted from the building, which was confirmed by European Aluminium (EA) following an external audit, which confirmed a recycling rate of 98.3%.

In addition to the UDC 80, other C2C Silver-certified products were used such as the FWS 50 / 60 SG mullion/transom construction for the entrance façade, the AWS 75 BS insert units and the AD UP 75 doors. Following the renovation, the building now meets the ambitious KfW 70 standard and consumes 265,000 kWh less primary energy per year than before as a result. The renovated building is supplied with certified green energy and receives heating energy and hot water via district heating.

The roofs, for instance, are insulated with cellulose fibres. A green roof is also in the works. This 500 m² green space will encourage insect diversity, improve the microclimate both in and around the building, and reduce noise and pollution. The construction companies similarly took precautions to minimise pollution and noise while they worked on the building. Schüco chose to work predominantly with local businesses to reduce time spent on construction and on transporting materials. The project is being subsidised by the Ministry for the Environment, Conservation, Agriculture, and Consumer Protection in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.