Timber Office High-Rise in Risch-Rotkreuz
The first timber office high-rise in Switzerland was built at Suurstoffi, a former industrial area in Risch-Rotkreuz by the side of Lake Zug. The building, which is divided into two volumes, offset to one another and overlapping in plan, has two circulation cores and an inner courtyard. The design is characterised by the open, freely divisible floor layout, which allows a high flexibility of use and can be divided into rental areas of various sizes. Structurally, the building is a timber skeletal frame and was completely prefabricated except for the two in situ concrete circulation cores. Beech laminated veneer lumber (LVL) was used for the solid timber columns and downstand beams in the interior of the building, while spruce glued laminated timber (GLT) was used for the less heavily loaded columns in the plane of the facades. The timber-concrete composite floors act with the reinforced concrete cores as horizontal stiffening. Integrated building services elements provide cooling, heating and ventilation. Installing these prefabricated components with their exposed timber surfaces and acoustic ceilings attached considerably reduced the overall construction period. In contrast to the warm wood colours of the internal spaces, the facade, which is made from encapsulated timber elements with a black cladding of composite aluminium boards, gives the building a reserved, elegant external appearance.
