TKT

ThyssenKrupp Elevator’s lift test tower in Rottweil is one of Germany’s tallest structures at around 246 metres. The structure is used for testing and certifying high-speed lifts. It thus contributes to a significant reduction in the development time of future skyscrapers and those already in the construction phase around the world. The tower offers space for ten lift shafts, a fire brigade lift and a glazed panoramic lift. The test lifts not only use the tower’s total height of 246 metres above ground level. The shaft length of the lifts extends almost 30 more metres into the ground.

But the test tower is more than just a functional building for research and development. A public visitor platform at a height of 232 metres provides a 360° view of the region around Rottweil. This makes the tower the highest visitor platform in Germany. But it is also the tallest textile-clad building in the world.

Germany’s Highest Viewing Platform

In addition to the Industrial Construction Award and the German Engineering Construction Award, the TK Elevator Test Tower also received the 2018 Balthasar Neumann Award, which recognises the exemplary, innovative collaboration of various specialist disciplines on a building that goes beyond technically established standards and, as a result of this collaboration, exhibits outstanding building cultural and technical qualities.

Absolute Novelty: The Textile Facade

The planning of the textile favade, which covers the entire height of the tower, was particularly demanding. Here, not only questions of assembly and wind load had to be considered, but also aspects of maintenance as well as weather resistance. A fabric favade had never been built on this scale before. So TKT is also breaking new ground in this respect.

Industrial Building Award, German Engineering Award, Balthasar Neumann Award etc.

This collaboration does not only refer to cooperative partnerships between architects and structural engineers in the realisation of a building design or a traffic route construction project. It also takes into account the cooperation between architects and planning engineers from different disciplines. The Balthasar Neumann Award is intended to fulfil the parameters of sustainable construction. The building submitted for the award must demonstrate the quality achieved through planning in partnership, in the sense of integrated and integral processes. The prize is awarded for successful cooperation in the fields of architecture, structural design and energy/sustainability concept. It will be presented to the planners of each of these three areas as well as to the client.

Construction animation of the tower

In the film above, our project manager Holger Hinz takes us on a tour of the entire building, telling us what makes this project so special for him.