|
|
 |
 |
New Messe Stuttgart trade fair centre: a forward-thinking marketplace |
|
|
New Messe Stuttgart trade fair centre: a forward-thinking marketplace
| Fast, trouble-free installation of 70,000 m² ceramic and cast stone coverings using Sopro products
|
Well ahead of the official inauguration on 19 October 2007, the new Messe Stuttgart exhibition centre opened its doors for the first time this June to host two major events: the MiNaT International Trade Fair for Precision Mechanics and Ultra-Precision, Micro and Nano Technologies and the Blechexpo International Trade Fair for Sheet Metal Working. Located in the immediate vicinity of Stuttgart Airport, the complex has set completely new benchmarks in many respects. All products needed for laying and grouting the ceramic and cast stone finishes in the exhibition halls and congress centre were provided by Sopro Bauchemie GmbH.
|  | The search for a new exhibition site in Stuttgart was prompted by the inability of the existing trade fair centre to meet contemporary standards, due to its hall design and disadvantageous location on the Killesberg hill in the north of the city. The new site in the Filder region is ideally situated between Stuttgart Airport, near Echterdingen, and the A8 motorway. True to its motto "All within easy reach", the new Messe Stuttgart trade fair centre combines easy accessibility – the airport, for instance, being practically on the doorstep – with short internal circulation routes. One particular showpiece that has already achieved national acclaim is the 4,000-space exhibition car park, which takes the form of a landscaped bridge stretching 400 metres across the A8 motorway. Also, through the "Stuttgart 21" public transport scheme, the trade fair and airport are to be directly served by the Stuttgart-Ulm rapid rail link.
Exhibition area of over 100,000 m²
Die new Messe Stuttgart features seven standard halls, each offering 10,000 m² floorspace, plus one high-ceilinged hall with 25,000 m² gross exhibition area that doubles up as a sports and cultural events venue. With its new 105,200 m² exhibition centre, Stuttgart will edge up from eleventh to seventh spot among Germany's trade fair locations, narrowly ousting Leipzig (104,500 m²), which drops to eighth position. The trade fair's communications and events complex – the International Congress Centre Stuttgart (ICS), fronting the Messeplatz square – incorporates a 2,900 m² conference room, a 5,000 m² congress and exhibition hall, and up to 20 seminar rooms plus workshop spaces covering a total 1,800 m².
In the words of Ulrich Bauer, Chief Executive of developer Projektgesellschaft Neue Messe, the new trade fair centre "constitutes a remarkable fusion of functional efficiency and aesthetic design". The distinctive architecture is governed by two principles: organizational clarity and orientation. A key priority in the Neue Messe scheme, developed by Stuttgart-based architectural practice Wulf & Partner, was to root the exhibition site firmly in the natural topography of the Filder region south-east of the city. The captivating power of the complex, then, specifically derives from the harmonious blend of logical, ordered geometries with free, organic forms – as expressed, for example, by the vaulted piazza, car park structure and concave roofs of the eight exhibition halls.
|  | Transparency and openness
The new Messe Stuttgart represents a celebration of the "green" exhibition. The harmony between the trade fair centre and its natural setting is heightened by the surrounding parkland, the planted hall roofs and the curvilinear fingers of the car park structure, with its trees and grassed areas. These designed-in green elements are accompanied by further building and site features that express qualities of transparency and openness. Partially glazed facades and perimeter strip windows, for instance, provide generous daylighting in the halls, while also reinforcing the transparent, permeable and natural aesthetic. The Messe Stuttgart combines crisp surfaces and textures with the elegance of state-of-the-art construction materials. The open, legible configuration presents visitors with insights into the technicalities of construction that promote a feeling of security and orientation.
The concave hall roofs are a particular eye-catcher: apart from their breathtaking appearance, the suspended roof structures are particularly economical in terms of materials due to the efficient transmission of tensile forces to the foundations. During construction, hundreds of ballast-filled "big packs" were hung from the ceiling to mould the roofs into shape and ensure the safe accommodation of future loads. The packs also prevented roof uplift due to gusty winds before the buildings were properly enclosed. Moreover, upon removal of the bags, the ballast contents were used in constructing the floor slab. The hall floors are made of power-trowelled concrete. The entrance areas, congress centre foyer and corridors between the halls, by contrast, feature cast stone tiling in a range of formats.
|  | Ceramics and cast stonework as key design features
All products needed for laying and grouting the ceramic and cast stone finishes at the Messe Stuttgart were provided by Sopro Bauchemie GmbH. Indeed, embracing a total 70,000 m² of coverings, this turned out to be largest single contract in Sopro's history in which the company supplied the full complement of tiling products – from primers and damp-proof membranes to bedding adhesives and grouts. Apart from the supplied products, Sopro, through its architectural and project counselling service, also supported the designers and contractors from the very start. Whenever necessary, this included the provision of on-site guidance by company experts.
45,000 m² cast stone flooring
Particularly stiff demands were posed by the installation of the large-format cast stone units. Specification of the bedding adhesive demanded particular care and, with each of the 5 cm thick, 100 x 100 cm units weighing around 125 kg, special vacuum lifting equipment was required to hoist them into place. Given the self-weight of the covering and high bond strength of the mortar, considerable force would have been needed to remove the units once these were placed in the bed. This made optimum preparation of the adhesive bed essential.
| |
| Two rapid-set, trass-bearing medium- and thick-bed tile adhesives – Sopro TR 425 and the new Sopro MDM 888 – were specified for the Messe Stuttgart scheme. The high thixotropy of these materials ruled out any risk of the units floating and sagging. Other merits of Sopro MDM 888 include its flexibility, suitability for widely ranging coat thicknesses between 5 mm and 30 mm, roughly 30-minute working life and early walkability/groutability after only approx. 2 hours. The joints were finished using Sopro FL a flexible, trass-bearing, cementitious tile grout for 2-30 mm joint widths. Particularly useful features of the material, apart from its ease of application, included the generous time window for washing down after grouting and prevention of any sagging of the large-format units, even with wide joints.
The use of Sopro products ensured the economical, trouble-free installation of 20,000 m² large-format (100 x 100 cm) cast stone slabs, plus a further 25,000 m² 50 x 50 cm and 60 x 60 cm units. The elegant, bluish-anthracite cast stone materials were manufactured and laid by G. Popp Betonstein + Naturstein from Norderstedt.
Large-scale ceramic tiling works
Apart from the total 45,000 m² cast stone coverings, all the remaining tiling works were likewise performed using products from Sopro Bauchemie's professional range. These included the waterproofing of all wet areas and the various catering kitchens at the trade fair and congress centre. Both the flexible, cementitious Sopro DSF 523 one-component flexible sealing slurry (approx. 20,000 m²) and Sopro PU-FD surface sealant, a two-component liquid polyurethane resin (approx. 8,000 m²), were used to install damp-proof membranes below the ceramic coverings. Over 28,000 m² of ceramic tiling was laid with the flagship S1-grade Sopro's No.1 flexible tile adhesive, available since January 2007 in a new, enhanced formulation. A combination of lightweight aggregate and special additives ensure the product's creamy consistency and smooth, easy workability. Now boasting a coverage of 1.0 kg/m² dry mortar per millimetre coat thickness, the consumption rate of the flexible adhesive has been further cut by a full 10%. The joints in the ceramic coverings were finished with the above-described Sopro FL flexible tile grout and Sopro TF Titan tile grout, a high-strength, rapid-set product for extra-heavy-duty applications. The ceramic tiling works were performed by Nürtingen-based Von Au Fliesen Gehrung GmbH.
The new Messe Stuttgart trade fair centre will be officially inaugurated by German Federal President Horst Köhler on 19 October 2007. The inauguration will be accompanied by a special three-day exhibition, under the banner "Innovation Meets Emotion", which will showcase over 200 companies, including those involved in developing and constructing the new facility. This wholehearted celebration of Stuttgart as a trade fair location looks certain to bode well for the future.
| Featured Sopro products:
Cast stonework
Ceramic tiling
| Signboard
| | Client: | German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg | | Developer: | Projektgesellschaft Neue Messe Stuttgart GmbH & Co. KG | | Operator: | Landesmesse Stuttgart GmbH | | Architect: | Architekturbüro Wulf & Partner, Stuttgart | | Investment volume: | € 806 m | | Exhibition area: | Approx. 100,000 m² in seven standard halls offering 10,000 m² each and one 25,000 m² high-ceilinged hall (multi-purpose events venue) | | Start on site: | September 2004 | | Completion: | June 2007 (partial opening of exhibition centre with MiNaT International Trade Fair for Precision Mechanics and Ultra-Precision, Micro and Nano Technologies on 12.6.2007 and Blechexpo International Trade Fair for Sheet Metal Working on 13.6.2007) | | Cast stonework: | Gustav Popp GmbH & Co.KG, Norderstedt | | Ceramic tiling: | Von Au Fliesen Gehrung GmbH | | Project supervision: | Sopro Bauchemie GmbH architectural and project counselling service, Wiesbaden |
|
|
|
 |
|
