Entrance Hall – University of Bremen 

Football is not the only profession with a “magic triangle”. In architecture, Werner Sobek Engineering, Alsop & Störmer Architects and seele worked together with Bremer Hochbaumanagement to develop a glazed entrance hall of unmatched transparency on the campus of the University of Bremen. The bright entrance hall is enclosed on two sides by a highly flexible glass membrane; it was the lightest material of its type at the time of construction and ushered in a new era in glass construction. The hall, which measures 22 metres by 43.5 metres, is connected on two sides to the existing university building and merges the interior and exterior spaces into a single unit.
The spring-loaded façade built in Bremen created a counterpoint to typical rigid structures. A delicate-looking steel grid rests at a height of 15 metres, mounted in the entrance area on six V-shaped posts, and supported in the back on the university building by six free-moving hinged columns.

At intervals of approximately two metres, the membrane structure is supported by sturdy 26-mm-thick steel cables which are kept at a constant level of tension via pivot spring dampeners at their base connections. This steady and powerful tension statically absorbs both wind loads and the tilting moment of the V-shaped glass supports, so the steel cables running along the vertical joints did not have to be used to bear the load of the glass panes. The panes sit extremely close to each other, increasing the incredibly transparent appearance of the glass membrane. Despite the enormous tension, the longest cable may move up to half a metre in stormy weather. This high elasticity is gradually reduced towards the corners via glass fins as well as a corner structure of pipes with diagonal bracing.