High-Bay Warehouse in Lüdenscheid

This roughly 30 x 74m warehouse was designed for an international manufacturer of lamp fittings. Light, therefore, plays a fundamental role, not only in terms of the product range, but in the facade concept as well. From the outset, the architects worked with the lighting designer Uwe Belzner. The idea was to create a daytime and a night-time facade. During the day, it is difficult to influence the lighting effects. The outer skin, consisting of U-section glass elements with the open face on the outside, responds to variations in daylight intensity by changes in coloration and the degree of transparency. For the night-time state, vertical fluorescent lighting strips were installed in horizontal rows behind the facade. To symbolize the internal activities of stacking, storing and sorting, the tubes are illuminated randomly or in horizontal rows. On the long faces of the hall, the glass sections form what is, in principle, a double-skin structural-glazing system. The end faces are clad with 2.2 x 4.5m panes of double glazing fixed horizontally by clamping members. The vertical joints are simply sealed with silicone to ensure a maximum ingress of daylight. In addition, six continuous clerestory strips allow the largely automated work in the warehouse to be carried out under natural lighting conditions. The steel shelving racks also form the load-bearing skeleton structure. The only sections of the building in a solid form of construction are the staircase and services tract.