Sparkasse savings bank in Bühl (Germany)

Patio decks
NATURELINE in graphite grey

Type of construction
Redesign of the forecourt of Sparkasse Bühl, construction of a new roof terrace

Client
Sparkasse Bühl

Planning office
PLANUM architekten, Bühl

Processor
Grünkultur, Achern

Building materials trade
Holzwelt Helmke GmbH, Appenweier

With the revitalisation of its headquarters on Eisenbahnstraße, Sparkasse Bühl made a conscious decision against a new building, even though the building was no longer up to date in terms of energy and technology. The client and the responsible architects from PLANUM architekten focused on climate protection in view of the carbon footprint and the continued use of the ‘grey energy’ of the existing building. The multi-storey building with wrap-around balconies from the 1970s has been extended and modernised over the years. The new design, with construction work starting in 2019, envisaged a redesign of the existing building in order to harmonise its appearance and achieve an energy standard on a par with new buildings. This included balancing the building’s staggering by adding storeys, rhythmising the perforated façade with different floor-to-ceiling windows and a thermally insulated rendered façade, as well as removing the balconies.

Tree-dotted space as a shady rest area

The revitalisation also includes Sparkasse’s inner-city project in the area of the development on the south side. Due to the urban development of Europaplatz with the community centre – previously located at the rear of the Sparkasse building – the client wanted a comparable entrance from the north and south. The architects, therefore, created a new access axis that leads from the fountain on the north side through the bank building with a two-storey atrium up to Sparkassenplatz on the new forecourt. It also characterises the new openness of Sparkasse, which focuses on more communication and community with the new concept.

This is why they also rearranged and redesigned the forecourt. “This area used to be heavily sealed,” explains Klaus Fauth, Sparkasse Building Manager, “and we wanted to break it up a bit more. Hence, we had the idea – also in terms of sustainability and to prevent overheating in summer – to plant more trees.” In order to emphasise the look even more, they, together with PLANUM, developed the idea of using different regional floor coverings to ensure that precipitation infiltrates into the ground. For the central 10 x 10 metre square deck, they opted for NATURELINE, a WPC decking board with an individual and natural-looking, multi-coloured wood grain from NATURinFORM, in graphite grey to match the colour scheme.

NATURELINE acts as the centre of the square

To avoid any waste, the decking boards for the area were supplied in special lengths of 10 metres. Border stones, precisely levelled and laid out, edge the space. This was followed by a gravel bed, on which the same-system NATURinFORM substructure rests. The decking boards were then laid flush with the adjacent paving stones and invisibly screwed into place. This allows water to infiltrate into the ground through the joints. Four circular cut-outs were sawn for the trees, which are symmetrically distributed across the area. Two equally circular, wood-covered seating areas, again each with tree cut-outs, were screwed diagonally to each other on the decking boards. Architect Michael Schönle explains: “After the entire square was redesigned and completely dismantled as part of the new urban planning situation, it became a communication point with wooden furniture to sit on, a pleasant floor covering made of WPC decking boards under a shady tree canopy – as soon as the trees have grown a bit.”

A roof terrace ‘on top’ for the employees

A similarly communicative anchor point is located on the Sparkasse’s large roof terrace, which was created on the building’s newly greened flat roof. To avoid any structural problems, they limited the usable and accessible area and anchored a separate steel structure to the roof before planting the greenery. “The roof terrace is for the employees,” explains Klaus Fauth. “We use it for meetings and lunch breaks but also for barbecues. We’ve already had some very nice parties up here.” The safety aspect, which NATURinFORM decking boards offer with their anti-slip properties and temperature resistance, was crucial in the choice of flooring, especially in this elevated area. However, the visual factor of the graphite grey NATURELINE as a contrast was also important. People should see at first glance which surfaces they can access and which not. For this reason, the decking boards were also laid slightly higher on a platform.

Own and external references helped with the choice of flooring

Architect Michael Schönle is already familiar with the benefits of NATURinFORM’s WPC decking boards from his own reference projects, where he has been using NATURinFORM’s solid decking boards for over ten years and has had nothing but good experiences. However, these were exclusively residential projects, so he asked his colleagues: “At a town hall forecourt in Bruchsal, planners and builders raved about the slip resistance, cleaning and stability of NATURinFORM decking boards and confirmed that they would use the material again. It was, therefore, easy for us to recommend the product to Sparkasse.”

The client discovered another advantage rather by chance after the first winter, Klaus Fauth adds: “The roof terrace had become mossy and green over the winter. We know that this is also the case with any other covering – perhaps even more so because the terrace is on the north side. However, we were able to remove the moss immediately using a high-pressure cleaner. That is why we usually give it a thorough clean at the beginning of April, when the first warm days arrive. It looks as good as new afterwards, and we can already use the terrace for our first meetings. I am now totally convinced by the WPC decking boards.”

Versatility meets sustainability

NATURinFORM decking boards are not varnished or oiled, they are already coloured at the factory. Depending on the product line, customers can choose from up to 31 colours. Another advantage is the high proportion of wood. With WPC from NATURinFORM, the ratio of wood to polymer is approx. 70 to 30 percent.

NATURinFORM WPC is also 100 % recyclable. With their own recycling system, the “Re-Form Recyclingbox”, the company helps to keep the valuable raw materials in the material cycle for more than 600 years. Any leftover pieces or dismantled material can be collected in the “Re-Form Recycling Box”, which is delivered to the construction site free of charge. At the end of construction or when the box is full, the leftover material is collected for recycling at the production plant in Redwitz a. d. Rodach in northern Bavaria.

NATURinFORM manufactures its decking boards strictly according to ecological principles: They only process PEFC-certified wood fibres from sustainable forestry that are sourced from the wood processing industry. The organic component of the composite material is an environmentally friendly polymer. Unlike conventional wood, NATURinFORM decking boards do not require the use of environmentally harmful chemicals for maintenance. Clear water is sufficient for cleaning. No microplastics are washed out.

NATURinFORM offers products for DGNB-certified construction. All NATURinFORM decking boards and façade profiles are covered by Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) drawn up in accordance with international standards. All products are subjected to continuous quality controls and load tests to ensure consistent immaculate and first-class wood-based material quality.

Download: Press release
Product information: NATURELINE