New life for the old Hill Speicher – Explore the modular construction system
New things are growing in the old warehouse on the B-Side of Münster Harbor: The characteristic historic brick exterior walls preserve the history of the traditional building with its striking double gables. But inside, the Hill Speicher is taking on a future-proof look. In October 2023, the Münster Rowing Club 1882 (RVM) and its 500 members will move into a new home with a boathouse and jetty. On the upper floor, a 2,500-square-meter socio-cultural community center will be built with event and meeting spaces and plenty of space for creatives. The open association B-Side Kultur e.V. is developing and organizing the non-profit project modules. The roof will also be renovated.
Driving a Paradigm Shift with Sample Walls
When it comes to building for the future, there's no getting around serial prefabrication and modular solutions – even for renovation projects like the Hill Speicher facility. The larger the project, the more the advantages of modular construction pay off in the planning and construction phases. However, this paradigm shift is still encountering a lack of practical experience with industrially prefabricated installation walls. It's up to architects to embrace the new construction method and engineers and planners to promote the rethinking of "assemblies instead of individual parts."
TECE, as a systems provider that has already equipped more than 100,000 bathrooms with the TECEsystem since the 1990s, is therefore committed to breaking down barriers and enabling practical experience. Since the company already has TECEprofil and actuator plates in all of the Hill Speicher facility's restrooms, the company also offered to provide some sample walls from the TECEsystem series.
Even though the installation of industrially prefabricated installation walls is usually only worthwhile for restrooms of a certain size, these sample walls were used on the ground floor.
Challenging Project
"It's not an everyday construction project," says construction manager Patrick Sutor from the Nordhorn engineering office in Münster about the renovation of the Hill Speicher facility. "A renovation is always exciting. You can't plan everything in advance; you have to find short-term solutions." Architect Uwe Schall from the Böll Architekten architectural firm in Essen expressed a similar opinion. "It's a challenging project; renovations are always a challenge to reconcile old and new. There's always something new to add."
TECEsystem as a recommended solution
Sutor is no novice when it comes to system construction. "I've generally had good experiences with TECEsystem, provided the right installation conditions prevail. The time factor is a major advantage, as is the simple technology." Schall encountered TECEsystem for the first time. "I haven't used it yet," says Schall. "Generally, it's recommendable: The integrated pre-wall installation is good; everything arrives on site in one package; assembly simply involves setting up and aligning the individual installation walls." In the case of the Hill Speicher tank, the particular challenge was carrying out the installation on some existing steel girders, as these had to be drilled through.
Specialist Edgar Zieschang from the executing company Bolte summarizes: "The industrially prefabricated installation walls look neat. The dimensions are right, and it's quick. It's a nice, clean installation. We'll consider using it more often in the future."
Fotos: Matthias Ibeler, Böll Architekten