LTH Castings is a foundry that manufactures products in aluminum
and magnesium, mainly for major German car manufacturers.
The high-tech production requires a high quality level of
working environmentin order to achieve a high standard of
product quality. Project represents the first phase of relocation
from a location which does not have room for adequate expansion,
and production itself is becoming too strong a burden for
the surrounding area near the medieval town. The first stage
of the relocation into the new industrial zone was the construction
of tool shop facility of 5.200 m2, consisting of a development
department in a traditional office building and a large-volume
production hall with all the necessary infrastructure. Duality
of the program is reflected in the duality of architectural
composition. Development department is housed in a three-storey
building with vertical concrete shades as its strongest element.
Shades reduce the size of heat intrusion as well as disruptive
aggressive morning and afternoon light using only their geometry,
with no mechanical help. Tectonics and vertical dynamics of
the development building is adjoined by a subdued composition
of the production hall. Prefabricated reinforced concrete
structure easily bears all load situations and is also a suitable
frame for lightweight shell of thermal insulated metal sandwich
made with insulation thickness of 15 cm to ensure adequate
thermal stability of the working environment. As an adequate
lighting is of the utmost importance for precise manual work
process, we introduced sheds on the roof to ensure a high
level of quality of northern light. This reduces the cost
of energy for lighting, while allowing workers visual contact
with the outside world. The entire interior of the production
volume is painted in light gray RAL 9002, providing a sense
of brightness and minimum contrast of light, being the least
tiring for workers' eyes. Elements of natural night ventilation
facility are arranged in the sheds. Grilles are mounted in
the lower and upper zones, in the summer they open during
the night. Natural draft cools the workspace by a few degrees,
allowing the delayed start of cooling the building for a few
hours. Energy supply of the building is arranged with groundwater,
its energy potential is transformed into the summer cooling
and winter heating via heat pumps. This reduces the carbon
footprint of the building by 60%, the cost of energy supply
is also reduced by the same amount. If the development of
the company continues as projected, other segments of production
will join the tool shop within a few years. Total industrial
complex would then total 23.000 m2.
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