Elements made of wood composite material combined with metal and glass enhance the facade’s functionality. ‘Speed up and boldly create the future,’ that is the motto behind the fourth family generation of the construction expert’s centre Lueb + Wolters. Driven by the vision to be the leading construction and building experts centre in the Münsterland, the youngest generation of the traditional family company from Borken that has just turned 120, is developing further and leading it successfully into the future. The owner family Nina and Johannes Baier purchased a 50,000 square metre large plot and invested 15 million Euros in a newbuild with storage and logistics centre, as well as a modern exhibition. This January the company started business at the new location at the Landwehr 59.
Trade centre Lueb + Wolters Borken
facade
Creative XL in oak brown
Type of construction
New building
Construction year
2019
Location
Borken, NRW
The large and modern construction expert’s centre convinces with short ways and a clear presentation, optimized processes and an extended range. Personal consultation is supported by interactive digital information. ‘When you come into our exhibition, we want our customers to immediately feel comfortable,’ explains manager Frank Schupp. But not only the ‘inner values’ in the new building complex are impressive, the façade also makes an impact with effective details: the metal façade that conveys functionality was enhanced using wood composite elements. Bavarian producer NATURinFORM’s ‘Creative xl’ oak brown façade elements were used. The new company complex at Lueb + Wolters consists of four differently shaped building units – self-sufficient and each with their own function: the exhibition, the social building with the storage management, the stock and logistics centre, as well as the building for administration and project doors. The four areas and their surfaces are strategically placed so that paths are short and convenient for both customers and employees, meaning that cooperation between work processes functions without a glitch, too. The exhibition presents diverse theme worlds. On a total of 2,500 square metres customers can find more than 300 different floor surfaces made of cork, vinyl, laminate and parquet, as well as XXL-unique decks that are up to 12 metres in length. In the interior door field there are around 80 functional doors on show; further areas present façade options using WPC, wood, synthetics or trespa for optical enhancement on houses, as well as ceramic patio slabs, wooden and WPC patio decks.
Attractive and broad range of building material and wooden goods
‘Our stock is the heart of everything,’ says company director and manager Johannes Baier with pride. Speed and short-term availability are an important topic in logistics today. Construction material and wooden goods are required by customers and tradespeople within shortest time periods. ‘Therefore stock is a key function for trade’, says Baier. On a total surface of 21,000 square metres – consisting of two hall areas, a roofed area, an open-air area, as well as a loading area – Lueb + Wolters offers its customers more than 10,000 articles, a wide range of construction material and wooden products. Each building presents itself as a unit and can be individually extended. This gives each individual area the opportunity to grow in the long term. Johannes Baier: ‘This means we are building on the site in Borken. We are also counting on our customers with whom we are growing together. And last but not least we have created an environment in which both we and our 130 employees feel at home.’
Wood composite materials combined with metal and glass
The main building was built just like the other buildings using reinforced concrete with laminated carrier beams, inbetween which the sandwich elements with a PU filling were inserted as insulation, as well as a metal skin made of façade sheet metal; this is where the exhibition, the expert’s market and the trade area with the workplaces for the sales team are situated. ‘The building naturally belongs in the category of use-oriented industrial builds,’ says Frank Schupp. That these buildings look anything but cold, boring or uninspired, is something the building owners in Borken underline. And the fact that one of Lueb + Wolter’s core competencies is trading with wood is now visible even from ‘outside’, as the metal façade has been enhanced using the ‘optical warmth’ of wood. Together with the architect responsible for the complete building project, the company Brüninghoff, we implemented our ideas,’ says the managing director. ‘Due to the high resistance to weathering we favoured a façade made of wood composite material. It was an obvious choice to use our A-supplier NATURinFORM’s material to do so.’
Attractive colour and material contrast in the facade
The result looks good: on a surface of a total of 111 square metres Brüninghoff’s assembly team installed ‘Creative xl’ in the colour oak brown between the window areas. NATURinFORM delivered 185 massive rhombus strips, each six metres, to the building site. Thus creating an effective colour and material contrast in combination with metal, large glass surfaces and the warm feeling of the wood composite material. By using hidden assembly with invisible brackets, an even, unconspicuously elegant surface was created, that not only has a natural-looking wooden grain, but also a slightly brushed surface ex works, that increases the strips aesthetics and structure. A specially produced corner angle profile made of stainless steel was used in the corners.
‚Creative‘: Facade cladding with patented wooden grain
Lueb+ Wolters has been working with NATURinFORM for several years and the wood composite specialist is one of the top providers for the construction trade centre. In Borken everyone is convinced of the technical and optical characteristics of the material and recommends these products to business and end customers. When looking for a suitable system the choice was made for ‘Creative’, an innovative façade cladding made of weather resistant wood composite material. As well as resistance to weathering, there is also little need for maintenance and care for the material. ‘Creative XL’ is a massive rhombus strip with a covering dimension of 99 millimetres which can be laid horizontally, as well as vertically. It is on offer in standard lengths of four and six metres, and special lengths are possible on request. The profiles have a patented, individual wooden grain with a natural-looking colour gradiance in the colours oak, amber and chestnut brown, as well as graphite grey. ‘Creative’ is also available as an exclusive model with an elegant natural stone look in three shades of grey. Special colours can be produced on request, too.
Sustainable facade design with weather protection
Besides quick laying, weather resistance and durability are the decisive criteria for a façade made of wood composite systems. NATURinFORM’s tested and certified wood material in a ratio wood to polymere of ca. 70 to 30 percent is an optimally suited composite material. As with all floor decks the façade solutions also benefit from the material characteristics of the wood-synthetic-mixture: Due to the polymere portion the façade profiles are robust towards weathering. Also in regards to maintenance the material combination is an advantage for the state-of-the-art material: The facades are extremely low on maintenance and easy to look after. Should it be necessary to clean, this can be done using only water, with severe staining it is possible to use a high-pressure cleaner.
Climate-neutral, sustainable production
Only wooden fibres from domestic and sustainable forestry (PEFC-certified wood supplier) are used to produce the wood composite material that has been certified by the TÜV NORD as climate neutral. No additional trees are felled, the wooden fibres used are a by-product of the woodprocessing industry. This makes the material an extremely environmentally and climate friendly product, that is additionally 100 percent recyclable. After utilisation the decks are taken back by the company and re-fed into the production process if possible.
Download: Press release
Product information: creative