Mülheim Airship Hangar: NatureRoof for the extension

The airship hangar at Essen/Mülheim Airport not only provided a new home for the airship Theo, but also created a very special event venue. The building is impressive both visually and for its particularly sustainable design. The extension, also designed by Smyk Fischer Architects, follows the same principle. The new sustainable pavilion offers smaller rooms suitable for training courses and seminars, whilst offices provide the necessary planning infrastructure. Furthermore, visitors can enjoy catering facilities here, and the previously makeshift toilet facilities have now been replaced by modern sanitary areas.

A Sustainable Overall Concept

With the construction of the airship hangar and the new extension, Westdeutsche Luftwerbung Theodor Wüllenkemper GmbH & Co. KG (WDL for short) from Mülheim an der Ruhr has commissioned an unusual project: one of the key design requirements was to conceive the entire structure as a particularly sustainable building. In addition to using renewable raw materials sourced regionally, products have been incorporated that are fully separable and recyclable. This includes the aluminium building envelope from Kalzip. A further sustainable solution was also incorporated into the planning of the pavilion: instead of a simple roof structure, a green roof was designed to provide added environmental value.

Rounded shapes give way to angular ones

A timber-frame construction was already used as the basic structure for the airship hangar. Whilst the hangar has a rather complex underlying structure due to its rounded shape, the pavilion – with its linear form – could be erected quite simply using a classic timber-frame construction and prefabricated modules.

A Kalzip system had already been used for the hangar’s roofing: the entire envelope was clad with the Kalzip 65/400 standing seam profile in a stucco finish; for the pavilion, too, the planners and clients once again relied on the roofing system and the expertise of the Koblenz-based company. In addition, the roofing firm B. Schlichter GmbH & Co. KG from Lathen, which had already been responsible for the airship hangar, was commissioned to carry out the project.

To create a slope on the flat building, the specialist tradespeople used Kalzip’s Vario LB system. The system offers enormous flexibility for roof alignment. Thanks to the installation height, the roofers were also able to install a particularly efficient layer of mineral wool insulation.

To provide genuine environmental benefits, the roof was further enhanced with Kalzip’s NaturDach system. Perfectly matched to the standing seam system, the specialist tradespeople were able to erect a frame and line the roof surface with a drainage mat. The mat ensures particularly efficient rainwater retention and serves as a base for the planting substrate applied afterwards and the pre-grown sedum plants.