The innovative research environment of the flexible factory for shaping the technology change is on the one hand concerned with functionally integrated products in lightweight designs. On the other hand, it is dedicated to the highly efficient and sustainable production of sustainable automotive technology. In the long term, the project is intended to consolidate Baden-Württemberg's leading position in the automotive industry.
In the meantime, 24 partners from science, research and business are participating in the large-scale project. In addition to the University of Stuttgart, these include the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Centre), several Fraunhofer Institutes as well as BASF, Bosch, Daimler, Festo and other companies. Sherwin-Williams Coatings Deutschland GmbH also contributed to the successful construction of the sophisticated research environment with construction chemical know-how as well as high-performance fire protection coating.
Needs-based factory architecture
From the outside, the research campus on the Pfaffenwaldring has the appearance of a sawtooth roof construction with a folded aluminum and plastic facade that surrounds a hall with a floor space of about 5,000 square metres, virtually without columns. An overhead crane track enables experimental setups in any place. For the changing research teams, there are also workshops, laboratory rooms and fully glazed offices on two floors on the north side.
The Munich office of the internationally operative architects HENN planned the visionary factory building. In the shaping of space and form, the decisive design attitude of the experienced planners relies on the processes, requirements and cultural contexts of the respective project. In their tender, HENN architects called for a solvent-free, extremely hard fire protection coating for the steel structure of the support structure.
Extremely tough fire protection specifications for steel columns
The general contractor Baresel GmbH focused on the high-quality execution of this system and commissioned Stahlbau Süssen GmbH with the execution. This specialist company has the best experience with the solvent-free EP fire protection coating FIRETEX Platinum and took care of the complete coating of the steel components for the ARENA2036. A Sherwin-Williams application technician instructed the execution team in a new airless device, which produces an optically attractive surface.
All steel beams in the new research building were already coated with the fire-retardant R30 FIRETEX Platinum coating in the factory. The two-component, epoxy resin-based fire protection coating was applied directly to the blasted steel and achieves corrosion protection class C3 without a primer and top coat. External tests by the manufacturer confirm a lifetime of the fire protection coating of at least 25 years with no special maintenance requirements.
Acrolon® PUR Color (new product: Acrolon® PUR Color Plus) in traffic white was used as the top coat. The installation and bolting together of the structural supports in the hall took place in summer 2016. Due to the factory coating of the upper and outer flanges of the beams, other trades were not disturbed by spray mist and odours on the building site. In addition, prefabrication enabled a much faster construction process on site.
Sherwin-Williams fire protection now provide a safe working environment in the ARENA2036 and contribute to the functionality of the world's largest research factory.
