Project description
The new building of the research institute in Kassel houses offices as well as laboratories and technical facilities on a gross floor area of around 13,400 m². This resulted in very different requirements at the highest level in terms of safety, flexibility and adaptability to future changes of use. The basic building concept envisaged optimising each structure for its respective use and bringing them together via a common roof figure. Inside the building, a central entrance hall connects all four floors. Due to the different types of room use and the required adaptability, almost the entire range of modern dry lining systems was required: Wall constructions with high fire protection and room acoustic requirements, wall systems with particularly high static load-bearing capacity, walls and ceilings as design elements including light integration and much more. The complete technical elaboration, achitecture planning and implementation was excecuted by Okel GmbH & Co. KG. The centrepiece of the foyer reception hall presented a special challenge: a 21-metre-high sound-absorbing wall spanning over several floors, inclined vertically at an angle of about 6° and thus following the receding floor levels. OKEL’s dry lining experts demonstrate herewith again their “knack” for challenging large-scale projects. The German jury recognised both the sophistication of the immediately eye-catching constructions, as well as the numerous fine finishing details hidden after completion.
Main information
Building size
7 600 m²
Building purpose / type
Office and reseach building
Building owner name
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung
der angewandten Forschung e. V.,
Architect name
HHS Planer + Architekten AG
Contractor
Company name: OKEL GmbH & Co. KG
Main Representative: Mr. Burkhard Okel
Number of collaborators: 70
Specialties: Dry lining with room acoustics, cooling and heating ceilings, Metal construction, Carpentry
Founded in: 1959
Biography: The company OKEL GmbH & Co. KG was founded in 1959 by Mr. Walter Okel with 15 employees and they were initially specialised in painting, plastering and dry-lining. Since 1996 his son, Mr. Burkard Okel is the manager of the company and he has enlarged the company into new areas such as acoustic and thermal ceilings, fire protection, prefabrication of all wooden subconstructions, workshop for built-in furniture.
Contractor: Mr. Burkhard Okel
Saint-Gobain products & systems
