#movingforward on the Schüco Campus

A gateway to the world of Schüco

The newbuild Schüco One will be connected directly to the existing main building by means of a glazed bridge. A gateway to the world of Schüco is therefore being created from the interplay of the two buildings. Schücostraße will form a centre line that connects the headquarters to the logistics centre along the Schüco Welcome Forum and car park.

The new building also blends in architecturally with the Schüco Campus by assimilating the height of and aligning with the surrounding buildings.

New rooms for more individuality

The Schüco One newbuild gives our employees the opportunity to work in a way that suits them. Space will be created here for different ways of working: a freely accessible ground floor with an open reception area, flexible conference rooms for seminars and meetings, as well as partitioned areas along the outer façade where people can work or make phone calls undisturbed.

In all areas of the building, the architects are striving to create space which encourages dialogue and communication among employees. They are therefore deliberately not installing corridors. Employees move in a loop around the central atrium, which creates a continuous flow without dead ends.

A stripped-back aesthetic with optimal protection from the sun

The glass roof of the atrium features the switchable electrochromic glass SageGlass® which can be darkened to suit user requirements, thereby ensuring comfortable temperatures and glare protection throughout the year, while not obstructing the views from inside. Energy efficiency and user comfort are therefore further optimised, for sustainable and design-oriented architecture.

Sustainability times three

Sustainable building is part of the essence of our brand. This is why we are placing the highest requirements on our new building. The Schüco One newbuild will be the world's first building to receive not one, but three certifications: LEED, BREEAM and DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council). This is proof of far-sighted planning, high-quality aesthetics, energy-saving systems, and a modern work environment. The Schüco products installed are also Cradle to Cradle certified, meaning they are recyclable and conserve resources.

Our employees will benefit from this too, as most of the construction work will result in a building of excellent quality. For instance, the pollutant values will be extremely low and far below the legal specifications; there will be ease of access throughout most of the building; and there will be high levels of daylight.

Find out more here Sustainability at Schüco

Much more than a showroom

The development of the Welcome Forum from the original showroom is reflected not only in the extension of the spaces, but also in the concept of a holistic visitor experience. In future, visitors to the Bielefeld Campus will not only see the newest innovations in our technology and services, they will also have the opportunity to learn about our impressive Schüco machinery in the separate Fabrication Showroom. Accompanying information about the company's history and the Schüco brand will give guests a comprehensive brand experience, rounded off with a trip to one of our adjacent cafés where they are invited to stay a while. 

A unique and exciting visitor experience

It is not just the unique architecture and the displayed products that will contribute to the success of the Welcome Forum; the personal experience of every single guest will too. As this is particularly important to Schüco, a sophisticated plan for the visitor experience is already being developed alongside the construction work. Every visit will be a personalised experience which will leave guests with a lasting positive impression and will allow them to get to know the Schüco brand on many different levels. We are carefully considering every step to make visits a success and to ensure that guests are happy before, during, and after their visit to Schüco.

Alongside energy efficiency, the seamless integration of form and function is nowadays a fundamental requirement when creating modern office buildings. And the Schüco Corporate Services building demonstrates that compromises don't have to be made in any of these areas when carrying out a renovation. 

The AF UDC 80 unitised façade gives the building a modern and timeless aesthetic. The AB ZDS textile sun shading which is integrated into the façade can be manually lowered when needed, enabling individual offices to be shaded and ensuring a comfortable room temperature. And what makes this sun shading so special is that it is integrated seamlessly in the façade, so that it cannot be seen from outside when retracted. 

Minimal face widths on the window system AWS 75 PD.SI also allow light to flood into the offices. The system combines maximum transparency with excellent insulation properties, and is therefore the basis for healthy light levels in the office and contributes towards making the building energy-efficient.

Sustainable renovation at the Schüco Campus

In 2020, the building's old aluminium façade was dismantled as part of a comprehensive renovation project. The project served as a reference building for a study by the EA (European Aluminium) to confirm the high recycling rates of aluminium removed from buildings that are being dismantled. In total, the building's outer envelope contained more than 28 tonnes of aluminium. Around 98% of the material was collected when the building was dismantled and was then fed back into the closed-loop recycling process, so that it can be used in future to create new aluminium products of the same quality.

Industrial charm retained

Even after the conversion, the aim was to keep as much of the history of the old building as possible. With the new design, its identity as a former industrial production hall has been highlighted. Accordingly, selected elements were retained or adapted on the inside, continuing its 'engineering' look and feel, with exposed fixtures and surface-mounted cabling with tubes and clamps made from steel. 
 

The old industrial flooring was refurbished, albeit the original floor markings were kept. Their yellow colour is reflected in matching design accents on the walls. Apart from this, the colour palette of Digital Hub One is dominated by muted colours from neutral to dark grey in combination with a great deal of black.

Der alte Industrieboden wurde aufgearbeitet, die Bodenmarkierungen dabei bewahrt. Sie werden in passenden gelben Akzenten an den Wänden aufgegriffen. Ansonsten bestimmen gedeckte Farben von neutral bis dunkelgrau in Kombination mit viel Schwarz die Farbwelt des Digital Hub One.

The lifecycle at a glance: Cradle to Cradle

From building to raw material stockpile of the future. Even when the new windows and doors were installed, Schüco had its sights set firmly on tomorrow – and the recyclability of the building at the end of its lifecycle. Recyclable Schüco aluminium products were therefore used, which can be kept in a continuous recycling loop in accordance with the Cradle to Cradle principle. On the ground floor, the AWS 75.SI+ window system was installed, which is Cradle to Cradle Silver certified. Both stairwells were fitted with the FWS 35 PD.HI mullion/transom construction, a Panorama Design façade which also holds the Cradle to Cradle Silver certificate.

The changes on the inside are more than just construction measures. The new architecture in Digital Hub One has created a completely new working culture, a different way of working together. 159 fixed and many temporary workstations have been created on the ground floor and on the two full upper levels. The overall area of the building has been divided into zones in order to meet various different working requirements. Both dynamic teamwork and quiet, concentrated work are equally possible. To achieve this, open working spaces alternate with glazed but closed meeting areas, telephone booths and whiteboard nooks. 

Our car park is not just functional, it is also a visual highlight thanks to its FACID façade. The front of the car park has a curved, wave-like design, while the other sides are less three-dimensional and in some parts are covered completely flat. This allows us to show the different application options for FACID.

Besides the unique three-dimensional structure of the car park, its impressive lighting concept also stands out. By day, the transparent material covering the building allows the levels to be flooded with natural light, while a lighting system specially tailored to the shape of the façade illuminates its 3D structure at night and forms creative light effects.

A total of 2949 square metres of textile façade cover the 18 metre-high car park. A substructure made of steel and aluminium forms the load-bearing frame, while a patented clamping system using flexholder technology ensures that the fabric is pulled tightly into all of the corners without any creases. The Teflon-coated, inflammable glass fibre fabric is tensioned in the special aluminium profiles.