European Investment Bank, Luxembourg
European Investment Bank, Luxembourg
EU enlargement necessitated larger headquarters for the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg. In line with a design by the Ingenhoven architectural office, 750 new jobs were created in the immediate vicinity of existing buildings of the institution on the Kirchberg Plateau. The most eye-catching element of the investment bank is a 14,50 m2 barrel vault that serves as an oversized main façade, rising above the zigzagging, meandering complex of buildings. Around 1,500 tons of vault load are transferred to the building in the longitudinal, vertical and diagonal directions via 320 hinged columns. In addition to the glazing of the enormous steel grid, the highlights of the structure include three cable façades that enclose the south-facing atria. Fourteen different façade types were used at the European Investment Bank, 10 of them being from seele.
The steel grid of the barrel vault is subdivided into a static three-level hierarchy and rises up to 40 meters above the north-facing winter gardens. seele’s efforts began with the secondary structure, a steel tube in the form of triangles, which receives additional reinforcement from fins at the top and bottom. Mounted on the steel grid is an aluminium grid structure which further subdivides the triangular steel pattern for the roof glazing. A total of 18 kilometres of aluminium profiles, 3,344 cast aluminium nodes and 5,772 triangular glass panels of approximately 1.75 to 2 metres form the roof’s skin. The glass panes are fixed onto the aluminium structure with two point fittings on each edge, and the joints are sealed.
The steel grid of the barrel vault is subdivided into a static three-level hierarchy and rises up to 40 meters above the north-facing winter gardens. seele’s efforts began with the secondary structure, a steel tube in the form of triangles, which receives additional reinforcement from fins at the top and bottom. Mounted on the steel grid is an aluminium grid structure which further subdivides the triangular steel pattern for the roof glazing. A total of 18 kilometres of aluminium profiles, 3,344 cast aluminium nodes and 5,772 triangular glass panels of approximately 1.75 to 2 metres form the roof’s skin. The glass panes are fixed onto the aluminium structure with two point fittings on each edge, and the joints are sealed.
The three atria on the south side of the building are spanned by steel girders (fish-bellied beams) up to 50 metres in length. These beams support the roof system and anchor the steel cables of the atrium façades. With a weight of up to 60 tons, these beams represented a particular challenge in terms of assembly. The prefabricated support elements were welded together on-site and mounted using up to five mobile cranes. The 3-cm-thick steel cables of the cable façade, which is suspended from the fish-bellied beam, are anchored on the ground floor with a tension force of up to 22 tons. The beam swivels in the bearing mounts which, in combination with the elasticity of the steel cables of the façade, allows movements of up to 60 centimetres. Steel cables run through both the vertical and horizontal joints of the glass panels. The cables in the vertical joints bear the weight of the panes, while the horizontal cables stabilise the point fittings, preventing them from twisting and turning.
Façades from seele have helped to ensure that the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg is the first building in continental Europe to be awarded a BREEAM “Excellent” certificate.
Façades from seele have helped to ensure that the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg is the first building in continental Europe to be awarded a BREEAM “Excellent” certificate.
