Cologne / Bonn Airport
Cologne / Bonn Airport
In the dedication marking the opening of the new terminal, it was stated: “Helmut Jahn has added a building with a powerful design – a highly transparent extension in the form of a steel and glass – to the Cologne-Bonn Airport’s original concrete structure, designed by Paul Schneider-Esleben in the 1960s. ... A structure that charmingly unites mass and transparency ....”. The façade was described as a “very delicate, highly transparent glass membrane”, an accurate formulation for a refined steel and glass structure, which lends the airport an integrated aesthetic and a bright welcoming atmosphere.
Major elements of the new terminal include the 12,000 m2 fully glazed cable façade and a glass and steel roof construction measuring almost 23,000 m2. The roof system itself evokes parallels with the aviation industry due to its opened wings and the filigree support construction. Similarly, the individual roof elements, on average 40 metres long and 6.5 metres wide, appear to float above the 22 steel tree supports, with all elements combining to make the new Cologne/Bonn Terminal unmistakable. The continuous series of gables which stand at a 45-degree angle to the façade and involve complex geometric overlaps posed a particular technical challenge to seele.
Major elements of the new terminal include the 12,000 m2 fully glazed cable façade and a glass and steel roof construction measuring almost 23,000 m2. The roof system itself evokes parallels with the aviation industry due to its opened wings and the filigree support construction. Similarly, the individual roof elements, on average 40 metres long and 6.5 metres wide, appear to float above the 22 steel tree supports, with all elements combining to make the new Cologne/Bonn Terminal unmistakable. The continuous series of gables which stand at a 45-degree angle to the façade and involve complex geometric overlaps posed a particular technical challenge to seele.
The plan to make the highly technical function of the building apparent in its design can be seen clearly in the construction of the façade. Pylons just under 20 meters high reinforced by twin cables set a wide façade grid of seven metres, which is subdivided into four vertical bands of glass. Horizontal cable ties feature at the height of the horizontal glass joints, with additional pressure bars placed directly behind the joints. The glass itself was screwed into the joints using clamping discs with four-armed spiders, which sit on the ends of the pressure rods. The panes of glass directly beside the pylons are supported vertically by the pylon pressure rods and the twin cables. They can easily be fashioned into a diamond shape with the two panes of glass at the centre of the axis and, in this way, assume a large part of the vertical load. Structural silicone in the horizontal joints directly reduces the vertical load. Special silicone profiles allow movement in the vertical joints, and enable the façade to be formed into a diamond shape in a unified way as required. The precise coordination of all these structural components enabled a highly transparent façade to be built, which was aptly described in the dedication as a “glass membrane”.
