Architecture / urban planning
Jörg Sturm, Sturm und Wartzeck GmbH, Dipperz
Client
Vermögen und Bau Baden-Württemberg, Pforzheim office
Completion
2020
Awards
Bauwerk Schwarzwald e.V. Architekturroute 2022; Sustainable Building (BNB) from the Federal Ministry of Construction together with the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB);
Design / Concept
The initial concept idea for the national park centre is based on the structure of a native primeval forest, whose main characteristic is deadwood. In analogy to the bent and stacked tree trunks in the national park, the building was divided into individual bars according to function.
The surface and materiality of the façades also take up this theme of fallen trees and their bark. However, the position of the blocks is not random, but results from the complex local conditions in relation to the slope, the utilisation areas and the trees to be preserved. The majority of the National Park Centre (administration, foyer, operations) was placed on a tree-free plateau, while the exhibition areas and the Skywalk are partly cantilevered into the forest. The inclination of the building blocks in the exhibition area makes it possible to negotiate an entire storey height without barriers. The Skywalk is also barrier-free.
Material / construction
The building components that reach into the forest are positioned exactly between the existing trees, which are considered to be particularly worthy of protection. The high loads are transferred via the smallest possible foundation areas. Pile foundations are used to minimise soil compaction. The forest floor and the root system remain largely untouched.
The daring building design could only be realised through the use of state-of-the-art timber construction technologies and explores the performance limits of the building material.
Most of the timber used comes from certified domestic sources (90%). Local silver fir was mainly used for structural components and interior fittings as well as Black Forest spruce for the shingle façade. Only the shingles of the hard-to-reach tower were made from Alaskan cedar (0.5%). For the vertical load-bearing structures, mainly beech veneer laminated timber from the Rhön region was used (9.5%).
Sustainability / energy concept
The building envelope has the thermal insulation quality of a passive house and falls below the legal requirements. Heat for heating and hot water is generated centrally by two wood pellet boilers. The air conditioning of the foyer, cinema and exhibition rooms is provided by mechanical ventilation systems, which are arranged decentrally in the building's wings. The summer cooling concept does not require energy-intensive cooling. Two extinguishing water cisterns supply the required cooling water, which is channelled via a ground collector field in a further recooling step.
The bottom line
The efficiency and sustainability of wood as a domestic building material and the associated regional value chain require such exemplary projects in order to inspire builders and planners alike and to make an ever greater contribution to climate protection with the increased use of wood as a building material.
