Since the New Munich Trade Fair Centre relocated to the site of the city's former airport in Riem, this Munich suburb has become a top address for businesses. The Gesellschaft für Medizinische Information, a company supplying medical information to doctors and pharmacists, appointed the architectural practice Baumann & Freunde to design new company offices. The heart of the new building is the spacious atrium, which serves as a circulation zone linking all parts of the building. It extends over three storeys and the entire area of 110 m² is covered by a membrane roof which ensures a feeling of spaciousness and an imposing, bright atmosphere, something that also spreads into the adjacent offices. The five air-filled ETFE cushions forming the roof are supported on arches of rolled steel sections. These
three-layer cushions ensure good thermal insulation: the upper and the middle layers of ETFE are attached to the top flange of the arch, the bottom layer to the bottom flange. This arrangement increases the depth of the cushions by the depth of the arch members, about 200 mm, which therefore improves the insulating effect considerably. In addition, this design enabled aluminium sunshading louvres to be installed within the cushions. Another important detail is the opening central bay, which acts as an air vent in normal conditions, as a smoke and heat vent in a fire. It is controlled by temperature sensors, fire detectors, a wind speed indicator and a rainfall sensor, but can be operated manually if necessary.
