ZÜBLIN Starts Construction for Germany’s First Timber High-Rise

The 10-story SKAIO high-rise in Heilbronn, based on a design by architectural firm Kaden+Lager, is being built by Stadtsiedlung Heilbronn GmbH and ZÜBLIN. When completed, it will be the tallest timber building in Germany.

The 112-foot-tall building is being erected as part of the city exhibition for the BUGA 2019 horticulture show in Heilbronn. With an above-ground gross floor area of 61,000 square feet, it will offer space for 60 rental units with a total of 35,500 square feet of living space. A bakery will move into the commercial space on the ground floor.

The building will be erected by ZÜBLIN Timber using the method of timber hybrid construction. The walls and ceilings will be of wood and will make up most of the building. But the innovative hybrid structure will still require some concrete. The base floor and the stairwell will consist of reinforced concrete and are to be built first. The façade will be clad with aluminum panels on the outside.

A major advantage of timber construction is the relatively short time needed for construction, as the timber elements are largely prefabricated and merely require mounting and assembly onsite. “We build one floor a week,” says Markus Brandl, project manager at ZÜBLIN Timber. The supports for the new buildings are made of glued laminated timber. For the timber walls and ceilings, ZÜBLIN Timber uses only spruce – mainly from German forests and fully PEFC-certified, the certificate of quality for sustainable forestry. That is an important requirement for additional certification; Stadtsiedlung Heilbronn GmbH is applying for Gold certification for SKAIO from the German Sustainable Building Council.

Construction is scheduled to begin before the end of January.

The order by Stadtsiedlung Heilbronn GmbH includes a second hybrid timber building with five floors. This building, which is also being erected by ZÜBLIN, will have a gross floor area of 17,000 square feet and room for 13 apartments on five floors. Both structures form part of the city exhibition at the BUGA 2019 horticulture show and the new Neckarbogen neighborhood .

Rendering courtesy of Kaden+Lager.