Forum Gold and Silver in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany

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Spectacular Facade Solution in Schwäbisch Gmünd

The following data refer to the facade construction.

Length: ~ 25 m (82 ft) | Width: ~ 25 m (82 ft) | Height: ~ 25 m (82 ft) | Weight: ~ 55 t (60 US t)
Number of Nodes: 811 | Members: 1,276 | Materials: 2 | Cross-Sections: 7

The building is intended to be used as a presentation area and for events related to the subjects of gold, silver, and design.

The planning office isin Architekten was commissioned with the design of the building after winning a competition. The Klöckner engineering office carried out the structural analysis of the facade support structure using RSTAB, and that of the facade cassettes with RFEM. In connection with a wind report created by the German I.F.I. Institute for Industrial Aerodynamics, the wind loads to be applied were determined with a model placed in a wind tunnel.

Facade Structure
The facade envelops the building like a coat made of gold leaf. In reality, however, it is not gold foil that makes up the approximately 800 facade panels sized 1.5 m x 1.5 m (4.9 ft x 4.9 ft), but an aluminum alloy coated on both sides with DURAFLON®, a fluoropolymer stove enamel surface finish.

The steel supporting structure of the facade consists of 1,276 members altogether, with steel grades of S 235 and S 355. It is fixed to the building at 80 points. Ten round pipe columns with a diameter of 159 mm (6.2 in) absorb the majority of the vertical loads.

The RSTAB add-on module STEEL EC3 was used for the calculation. The 3 mm (0.11 in) thick facade cassettes were calculated using the RFEM add-on modules RF‑IMP, RF‑STABILITY, and RF‑STEEL Surfaces.

The cassettes are reinforced in the bay with aluminum edge profiles. These were designed in RF‑ALUMINUM.