A new company headquarters for around 3,500 employees is being built for the IBM technology group In Ehningen near Stuttgart. The new building complex consists of four building sections, each with five storeys and designed as reinforced concrete skeleton structures with flat roofs. On the first two storeys, the individual parts of the building are connected by a marketplace with a walkable green roof. One of the project’s highlights is certainly the imposing wide-span roof structure of the market square. The inclined beams which remain visible in the extension converge towards each other from different directions and form an essential part of the architectural design. A column-free event hall with a span of 22 m is also integrated in the market square. The building complex has a partial basement and thus offers space for a spacious canteen for the company's employees.
Different foundation levels
Due to the slope of the site, the new building has several foundation levels. This resulted in different stratification of the ground and required a site-specific and therefore optimised planning of the foundations.
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As a result, in addition to a solid foundation slab, the foundation also consists of a thin foundation slab supported on lean concrete piles. Due to a design water level which is directly at the level of the top edge of the ground, the building is also safeguarded against floating by micropiles which also serve as earthquake protection.
Schüßler-Plan has worked on the structural design in collaboration with H+P engineers and is also in charge of execution planning. Construction is scheduled to start in April 2021.
