View from below of an exposed light eye of Stuttgart 21. Daylight shines through the steel and glass construction into the interior of the station concourse.

complex steel-and-glass structures for stuttgart 21

glass and steel for germany’s largest infrastructure project: stuttgart 21

seele has built 27 skylights, 3 gridshell structures and 18 steel staircases for the new Stuttgart Main Station. As part of the Stuttgart 21 infrastructure project, the station concourse is being relocated underground.

With the project’s characteristic skylights, the “light eyes”, seele ensures that daylight and fresh air reach down into the station. The gridshell structures and staircases give passengers access to the new concourse.

Façade type
Steel-and-glass design
Client
DB Station & Service AG
Contractor
DB Projekt Stuttgart-Ulm GmbH
Engineer
Werner Sobek AG
Architect
Christoph Ingenhoven mit ingenhoven associates

© DB Projekt Stuttgart-Ulm GmbH

2 craftsmen from seele are in a tent and insert the glass panes into the lattice-shaped steel construction of a Stuttgart 21 light eye
View from the underground station concourse to a chalice support with installed light eye of Stuttgart Central Station as part of the Stuttgart 21 infrastructure project, through which the sunlight falls
Two construction workers wearing white safety helmets and orange safety waist-coats erect a lattice shell on the Stuttgart 21 construction site. The lattice shell con-sists of a white-painted steel structure with triangular recesses and grey steel nodes. Scaffolding made of steel pipes can be seen in the background

technically sophisticated light eyes

Iconic structures designed by ingenhoven architects, the light eyes stand atop the funnel-shaped supports of Stuttgart 21. These structures have a load-bearing welded steel frame filled with glass panels and clad with stainless steel tubes and sheets. Conduits and ventilation systems are discreetly concealed inside the light eyes.

Manufacturing these intricate yet massive structures for Stuttgart 21 demands extreme precision, especially for the structural steel.

 

gridshells made of steel and glass

Three impressive steel-and-glass domes mark the entrances to the new underground station concourse. Each dome comprises a substructure of steel, assembled from 3D-milled nodes and rods welded together to form the steel segments. Precisely positioned, welded and fitted with triangular glass panels, the nodes enable the rounded shape of the steel-and-glass domes. Stainless steel portal frames and integrated door systems comprise the entrance façades.

In the design and fabrication of the gridshells, seele overcame numerous engineering challenges.

 

downloads

construction site brochure – light eyes
construction site brochure – gridshells
 

Awards for the infrastructure project

German Design Award –  Excellent Communications 2017
Iconic Awards – Innovative Architecture 2016
International Architecture Award 007
Holcim Awards Gold – Global 2006
Holcim Awards Silver – Europe 2005
MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Awards 2005

#madebyseele

23 standardised light eyes (each 21 m dia. and 4.3 m high), with a total of 880 t steel structure, 4,000 sqm of glazing consisting of 13,340 monolithic panels, and automatically controlled motorised glass flaps — 4 flat light eyes (17.5 m dia.) — 3 gridshell structures with up to 745 glass panels each and automatic doors — 18 steel staircases (18 m long, 11.5 t)

21,500 m
stainless steel cladding
5,210 sqm
glazing
4,319
welded steel nodes
1,300 t
structural steel
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