Machine Tool Laboratory (WZL) at RWTH Aachen University

A fire resulted in the total loss of a machine tool hall at RWTH Aachen University. An L-shaped adjacent part of the building was retained due to the separation by a firewall. By rebuilding the hall structure and renovating the existing building, it was possible to keep the land area almost the same.

The building DNA© of the 3,000 m² hall structure was designed to be flexible in terms of floor height and grid. Three bays open to each other each have a 20 t crane runway. Each bay is supplied with technical media via an underground duct. Thanks to building information modelling (BIM), it was possible to design a digital twin for process optimization (deadlines, costs, quality) prior to construction, from the supporting structure to the integration of the technical equipment.

There are 56 multifunctional research areas in the laboratory hall, which are flexibly supplied with media (electricity, IT, compressed air, cooling water supply). They are also used to dispose of consumables (cooling lubricants). The load-bearing capacity of the building floor of 100 kN/m² contributes to the area sufficiency, as it allows later free room zone rearrangements - even with extra-heavy test setups. A dynamically designed building joint separates existing and new buildings and prevents the propagation of structure-borne vibrations.

The building services and ancillary rooms (erosion laboratory, oil store, hazardous materials store and gas cylinder store) were integrated into a two-storey hall section. The research operation requires a 400KW refrigeration system, three-phase busbars with 1600A power and a compressed air system with a supply pressure of 10 bar. The ventilation system has an output of 40,000m³/h and is equipped with a highly efficient heat recovery system.

In addition to dimmable LED lighting, the lighting concept takes into account the arrangement of 28 skylight domes to provide natural lighting and ventilation in addition to the continuous rooflights in the façade.

The roof of the hall was designed as an extensively greened area. The rain retention creates a cooling effect for the building and the surroundings, mitigates the consequences of heavy rainfall events and provides natural protection for the roof. A smooth sheet metal façade makes the remaining three-storey part of the building (floor area 5,000 m²) appear as a single unit with the rebuilt hall structure. In the relief of the façade, metal bands connect the old and new buildings. Between two existing stairwells, a canopy serves to create an address and complements the old building with two terraces to provide opportunities to spend time. As a contribution to the containment of heat islands, the light coloring supports the albedo effect and thus reduces the warming of the building envelope.

The preservation of grey energy in combination with sufficient further construction thus creates a future-oriented, optimized "new" building.