AYR office building
Revitalisation of a building with a remanufactured natural stone facade
© Clemens Hess
In the heart of Frankfurt’s City West, the 73-metre-high revitalised ‘AYR’ building sets new standards in terms of sustainability for existing properties. Designed and built in 2001 by renowned architect Christoph Mäckler, the office tower was extensively refurbished with a focus on sustainability, energy efficiency and New Work.
In 2023, property investor CONREN Land took over the 18-storey office building, which was no longer up to date in terms of energy efficiency. Extensive refurbishment measures were carried out within 14 months and completed in September 2024.
Turning old into new and even better: upcycling facade panels
The 7,200 square metre natural stone facade played a particularly important role in the refurbishment. The former mineral wool insulation of 80 mm was doubled to 160 mm, which corresponds to thermal conductivity group 031. The Dorato Valmalenco granite stone slabs used in the existing building were dismantled, recycled and upcycled with Litho-Stone by Steinmann.
No sustainability without a secure hold
The 18-storey office building was constructed using reinforced concrete. The SYSTEA UBE profile system was used for the concealed fixing of the large-format facade panels (max. format 1300 x 490 mm), which weigh up to 50 kg, using agraffes on the back, which were attached to the ceramic fixing points in the facade panel with special screws. Reinforced T-profiles were used due to the weight of the panels and the height of the building. The height of the cladding was adjusted using set screws.
A look behind the scenes: horizontal SYSTEA agraffe support system for holding the cladding.
Passive house-certified stainless steel wall brackets (corrosion protection according to ETA for SXRL) with special dowels and THERMOSTOP thermal break.
The substructure system based on the UBE consists of vertical T-aluminium support profiles, wall brackets, optional accessories and horizontal support rails, which are arranged at the spacing of the cladding grid.
In order to meet the energy requirements, passive house-certified wall brackets made of stainless steel and Thermostop elements were used as a thermal break to minimise thermal bridges. In order to comply with the required U-value of 0.20 W/(qmK), a wind barrier was installed. This resulted in a profile spacing of the base substructure of 1,200 mm and 1 wall bracket per m².
Resource-conserving refurbishment of a striking office building
The climate-friendly revitalisation of the ‘Scala West’ office building also led to the renaming of the striking office tower. With ‘AYR’, it is a sustainable property that more than fulfils today’s requirements. In addition to the comprehensive facade refurbishment, further measures were taken to make the building an attractive office location. In addition to many other optimisation measures, green roofs were installed, a dedicated water management system with rainwater recovery was set up and the gas supply was switched to district heating. The aim was to optimise the primary energy requirement after completion of the measures and to be able to reduce it to below the applicable requirements for new buildings.
The aim is to achieve WiredScore Platinum, BREEAM Excellent and DGNB Gold certification for all of these measures.’
With ‘AYR’ and its total rental space of approx. 21,000 m², users have the opportunity to use the landscaped inner courtyard, the barista bar in the lobby and the health and fitness centre in addition to their daily work in modern offices, which contributes to a better work-life balance.
Attachment of the cladding elements.
Project details
- Project: AYR office building
- Place: Frankfurt a.M.
- Country: DE
- Building type: Commercial + Industry
- Type of construction project: Renovation
- Completion: 2024
- SYSTEA Wall bracket: Stainless steel
- SYSTEA profile system: UBE Duo 3
- Cladding material: Litho-stone upcycling with Dorato Valmelenco natural stone from existing slabs
- Fastening: Concealed
- Architect: Adler Schreier GmbH
- Photos: Clemens Hess
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