Bülow Carré parking garage

Project summary
Application Garages and underground car parks
Location

Stuttgart , Germany

Product(s) used Heralight installation system with Heraklith A2-HL (WW) and Knauf Insulation SCS 135 (GMW)
Building Bülow Carré parking garage
Client Bülow AG

Attractive appearance, low maintenance, and reliable heat and fire protection - that’s a tough combination of requirements for an insulation system. But our Heralight system manages this balancing act easily.

Gerhard Gräf Segment Marketing Manager of Knauf Insulation Germany

Challenge

In 2014, Bülow Carré in Stuttgart - a modern, high-end property with offices, shops and restaurants - required garage ceiling insulation that protected against thermal and fire while contributing to a comfortable atmosphere in its 300-space underground parking facility. Such insulation is necessary not only for the comfort of those who use the building but for their safety, as well, because the intense heat of a fire in the garage could damage the support structure of the facility and endanger their health and safety.

Solution

Parking structures like that of Bülow Carré must serve the needs of both the structures themselves and the facilities they serve. Such needs include not only comfortable and convenient access to the facility but fire protection to guard against structural damage that can result from the heat of a fire and thermal and acoustic insulation to inhibit heat and noise transfer through the parking structure ceiling.

To meet the challenge for Bülow Carré, the builders installed a Heralight ceiling insulation system from Knauf Insulation, which uses a combination of Heraklith wood wool insulation panels in a lean grid rail system together with glass mineral wool supports. The white wood wool panels were inserted into the easy-to-install lean grid system, which was then colour-adjusted to create a uniform pattern across the ceiling.

In addition to their fire resistance, the non-combustible (A2) Heraklith wood wool insulation panels do not melt or produce burning droplets when exposed to fire, which adds to their durability under operational duress. And their fine wool structure not only creates an extraordinary visual effect but also improves the acoustics in the garage - the surfaces of which would otherwise reflect sounds such as the reverberation of slamming car doors or the staccato clack of footsteps in hard heels. The wood wool surfaces also stand up well to accidental blows or attempts at vandalism.

The 100 mm glass mineral wool insulation boards with ECOSE® Technology with formaldehyde-free binder provide for the necessary heat protection under the ceiling (below the ground floor) while helping the building designers to meet their goal of making Bülow Carré an LEED platinum-certified Green Building. The Heralight system thus provides environmentally sound fire and acoustic protection while keeping down maintenance costs
and contributing to a comfortable atmosphere in the garage.