Winding sculptural stairs at Heraeus
2017, Hanau
The globally active technology group Heraeus built an innovation center on its factory premises in Hanau, which is characterized by its forward-looking and sustainable building design. In the prestigious foyer of the building, the filigree stringer stairs fascinate with their impressive interplay of shapes.
Impressive interplay of shapes
In addition to office space, the new building also houses technical and laboratory areas for research and development. Generous gallery and coffee areas provide ample space for communication and exchange. The spiral steel staircase extends over three floors and is visually enhanced by the all-glass railings of the galleries.
Handrail construction for stringer stairs
METALLART created a sophisticated steel substructure on both sides of the stringer stairs for the wooden handrails installed on site. For this purpose, bent stainless steel brackets with a diameter of 6 mm were welded to the inner balustrade stringer. On the outside of the outer steel stringers, laser-cut shaped posts run at regular intervals of approx. 1000 mm, which were also fitted with bent stainless steel round bars as handrail brackets. Filler brackets were also laser-cut and welded to the outside of the stringer stairs at regular intervals of approx. 125 mm.
Insights
Project details
To complement the stringer stairs in the foyer, METALLART produced rounded and straight all-glass railings for the galleries on the individual floors. With their transparent appearance, they support the filigree steel construction of the stringer stairs and complete the successful overall architectural design.
The laminated safety glass panes with a thickness of 20 mm and a pane length of up to 2000 mm were inserted into the glass pockets without constraint and cast with a testable cast resin system. The top cover of the frame was fitted with an EPDM rubber profile.
In preparation for the wooden handrails installed on site, steel U-sections were attached to the glass railings as a substructure.
The sculptural stringer stairs with smooth steel soffit cladding impresses with its extremely light and flowing appearance. The decisive factor here is the constant angle of inclination of the stringers, which means that the geometric interruption of the intermediate and stair head landings is not recognizable. During the construction of the stringer stairs, the stringers were raised and manufactured with different distances between the upper and lower edges of the steps.
In addition to delivery and assembly of the stringer stairs, METALLART was responsible for the CAD design planning in 3D format and for the verifiable structural analysis of the staircase system. A vibration analysis for the stringer stairs was also calculated and prepared.
The striking stringer stairs were named Staircase of the Year 2019 in the "Sculpture" category by the German specialist portal Treppen.de. METALLART has already won this award from the renowned staircase construction portal in previous years with impressive staircase designs in various categories.
A decisive factor in the design of the stringer stairs is the smooth steel soffit lining made of 4 - 6 mm thick sheet steel, which was welded flush between the stair stringers as a structurally supporting steel soffit lining in line with the curved staircase.
- Floor plan of the stringer stairs: 6-flight, evenly rounded with 2 flights each
- Outer stringer: flat steel, concealing the treads, up to approx. 1150 mm vertical stringer height
- Inner stringer: flat-steel balustrade, up to approx. 1900 mm vertical stringer height
- Step construction: steel treads welded between the stringers in a folding structure
- Stair landings for stringer stairs: 1 intermediate landing and 1 stair head landing per floor, circular and with additional bracing profiles in accordance with static requirements
Architecture
planquadrat, Darmstadt
