Project captures renovation award in Germany

2009-10-05

Nething Generalplaner, an architectural firm from Neu-Ulm, has won the German "Aluminium in Renovation Award 2009" for the LoftLiving Ackermannfabrik in Augsburg. The project was realized with Wicona-brand aluminium building systems.

The award honors building renovations where aluminium is used in an exemplary way in terms of energy efficiency, life cycle and quality improvement of the building itself.

Every two years, the European Aluminium Association invites member countries and companies to host and, respectively, enter such competitions.

In Germany, Werner Mader of the Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e.V., Düsseldorf (GDA) presented the winning award to Axel Nething, who is managing director of Nething Generalplaner (ngp). Nething talked about sustainable buildings - and aluminium - in his acceptance speech.

Ackermannfabrik was rebuilt with Wicona-brand window and door systems.

"Sustainability has been a crucial factor in our building designs for many years," he says. "Aluminium is a fantastic material that helps us enormously in implementing this claim."

State of the art
Nething's sustainability targets are demonstrated in the prize-winning building.

Ackermannfabrik, an old textile factory, was redesigned by ngp to create attractive lofts and residential apartments. The Wicona profiles for the windows and doors equip the building with state-of-the-art technology, and a design which meets the legal requirements and specifications for historical buildings.

A special contour of the Wicona profiles reproduces the visual appearance of the original steel-frame windows, however, they also achieve a UW-value of 1,5 W/(m²K) and, thus, efficient and future-oriented thermal protection.

The jury described the project as "convincing in the aesthetical implementation of the material under consideration of the design of the existing building. The high-rising windows with the slim profiles provide much light for the interior. The modern profile technology supports the efficient thermal insulation."

As the German winner, the project is now entered in the European competition, which will be decided in Brussels later in October.