7/28/2019 120329 PressetextLCT ONE Timber Construction Phaselong
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Cree GmbH - Wood builds the futureTimber construction phase on
first LifeCycle Tower ends as building of first external customer
project begins
Over a period of two weeks in March, the residents of Dornbirn,
Austria, watched as day by day the timber
modules climbed skyward on the first LifeCycle Tower (LCT ONE).
And very soon work on the fitting out of the
interior of the 8-story carcass can begin. The modular LCT
building system impresses everyone with its host of
advantages (resource and energy efficiency, vastly improved CO2
footprint, shorter construction time, factory-
produced components and more), and consequently earned the
DGNB's preliminary gold certificate. In summer
2012, the first tenant companies, together with the client, Cree
GmbH, a subsidiary of the internationally
renowned Rhomberg Group, will move into the first
un-encapsulated timber hybrid high-rise in the world: every
company ranking among the pioneers of sustainable industry. And
what's more, the first external customer
project has been under way since the beginning of March 2012.
Commissioned by Vorarlberger Illwerke AG, the
"Illwerke Zentrum Montafon" (IZM)has a floor area of around
10,000 m and will be one of the largest office
buildings constructed in wood anywhere in the world.
Timber construction and architecture have a long tradition in
Vorarlberg, therefore nobody is surprised that two of the
world's most innovative timber buildings - the first two
projects by Cree GmbH are being built in Vorarlberg. These
projects show the diversity of possible applications of the
timber-hybrid construction system developed by a team
composed of leaders in all fields of sustainable construction of
large volume structures up to 30 stories high. Designed
with international applications in mind, the LCT system provides
an opportunity to export Vorarlberg's excellence in
timber construction.
LCT ONE an eight story timber tower
LCT ONE, currently being completed at Rhombergs business park in
Dornbirn, Vorarlberg, is the first building to use a
flexible, modular construction system for sustainable buildings
and is the fruit of many years of research. Cree intends
to showcase the advantages of the system to a worldwide audience
through this demonstration project.
During the construction of the LCT ONE, in which the timber
module phase included the installation of the ceilings,
columns and facades, each story represented a piece of the
future for ecological high-rise buildings. In no time at all,
the prefabricated modules were quickly installed around the
central core from their 13 x 24 m reinforced concrete
podium. The use of timber for the major structural members
(columns and decks) marks a true milestone, as timber has
never before been used for loadbearing components in buildings
of this type. As a condition of construction approval, a
sprinkler system was required and the central core of the
building, containing the lifts and staircases, had to be of
reinforced concrete. Working closely with the approval
authorities, we are seeking to have timber cores in future LCT
system buildings.
"The main difference between the timber-hybrid and other
multi-story timber buildings is that the loadbearing elements
of the hybrid building are not encapsulated," says architect
Hermann Kaufmann, who helped develop the system and
was responsible for the design of the LCT ONE. The
un-encapsulated, i.e. unclad timber structure offers the benefit
of
making wood an enjoyable, visible part of the interior and saves
resources. From the point of view of fire safety
engineering, the use of un-encapsulated wood is also
advantageous, as there can be no outbreak of "hidden" fires in
the voids behind an encapsulation.
For fire safety reasons, only non-combustible materials can be
used for the facade of the eight-story timber-hybrid
building. However, here as well, Cree follows its philosophy and
conserves resources: composite panels result in metal
savings of 75%. Moreover, the aluminum used has a recycled
content of about 60% and can in turn be cleanly sorted
and recycled at the end of the building's life.
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7/28/2019 120329 PressetextLCT ONE Timber Construction Phaselong
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The energy supply (heat, power) can be optimized to suit what is
available on any particular site and in the case of the
LCT ONE consists of a connection to the local electricity grid
and photovoltaic panels on the roof. As a whole, the LCT
ONE achieves the German Passivhaus standard for low energy
consumption.
By the middle of 2012, the LCT ONE, which received funding from
the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and
the Federal Ministry for Transportation, Innovation and
Technology (bmvit) as part of the "Haus der Zukunft" program,will
be ready for occupation and will provide a base for companies
active in the field of sustainability. The international
lighthouse project for green buildings offers a gross floor area
of 2,500 m in units of 50 m - 400 m, which can be
individually divided internally with dry-walling or proprietary
partition walling systems. At the same time, the LCT ONE
provides space for a "Museum of the Future", a neutral stage for
companies to present technical solutions in the field of
future-oriented urban living and building, and draws the diverse
range of related expertise in the Vorarlberg region to the
attention of industry professionals from all over the world.
A great honor nomination for the National Award for
Innovation
Cree's LifeCycle Tower system has been nominated for the
Austrian Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth's
National Award for Innovation. Out of a country-wide entry of
627 projects, Cree joined 5 other companies in being
selected for the highest accolade that Austria can bestow for
innovation. This is a huge encouragement for being bold inones
vision and for jointly tackling great aims in the future.
Illwerke Zentrum Montafon (IZM) five storys, 120 m long
The first external customer project to be built using the
LifeCycle Tower system will be the new water power
competence centre for Vorarlberger Illwerke AG in Vandans,
Montafon. In 2010, architect Hermann Kaufmann emerged
as the winner in an international design competition with the
timber-hybrid building concept, which Cree GmbH was
subsequently commissioned to build: "The completeness of the
concept was crucial for us. The building concept fulfils
virtually all the relevant requirements in the masterplan, green
building, spatial and functional concept,"says Dr. Ludwig
Summer, CEO of Illwerke. "The LifeCycle Tower system offers not
only reduced life-cycle costs and a building of high,
long-lasting value, it also provides Il lwerkeemployees with
state-of-the-art work places."
Of course, the client was also influenced in his choice by the
high level of practical details already resolved during the
research phase and the proven buildability of the system. The
fact that fire safety certification had already been
obtained brought many advantages, including time savings
compared with the usual approval phase, which can last up
to eighteen months. Greater certainty in the design and
construction processes results from the experience of building
the LCT ONE demonstration project.
Many modules are prefabricated in the factory and installed on
site in Vandans. Construction times are drastically
reduced compared with conventional buildings and the same
applies to the generation of dirt, dust and noise. In spite
of the building's minimized use of resources and energy over its
whole life-cycle it is very suitable for high-rise
development. With its height of 5 stories, a length of 120 m and
over 10,000 m 2 of gross floor area, the new office
building is one of the largest and most sustainable timber
hybrid structures in the world. With the construction of the
IZM, Vorarlberger Illwerke AG sets not only a new milestone in
sustainable building, it also strengthens and provides
impetus to the economy of the region.
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