Alnatura Campus

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On the site of the former Kelley Barracks in the south-west of Darmstadt, the Alnatura Campus has become a remarkable place for contemporary working. The new building forms the heart of the 55,000m² headquarters of the organic food retailer and offers space for 500 employees as well as central infrastructure on a gross floor area of 13,500m².

For the first time in a project of this size, industrially prefabricated rammed earth elements with integrated core insulation and geothermal wall heating were used – a pioneering combination of traditional building material and innovative construction technology. The result is Europe’s largest office building with a clay façade – a milestone for sustainable construction.

The Alnatura Campus was awarded the German Sustainability Award for Architecture in 2019 and is a prime example of the future viability of natural building materials in an urban context – in terms of function, ecology and design.

Category

Trade

Attributes

Exterior wall, Core insulated, Thermally activated

Architecture

haas cook zemmrich STUDIO 2050

Customer

Campus 360 GmbH, Alnatura

Year

2017

Executiom

Lehm Ton Erde Baukunst GmbH

Location

DE, Darmstadt

Production type

Prefabricated production

Factory-based production, including the creation of production plans, mixing & tamping, as well as drying, packaging, & transport.

Field factory

A temporary production site set up close to the construction area, combining workshop-level quality with the flexibility of onsite manufacturing — ideally making use of locally excavated material.

Products

Wall

Walls made of 100% earth - formed & compacted on site or produced as prefabricated elements, load-bearing or self-supporting.

Impressions Building process

Prefabricated production

Factory-based production, including the creation of production plans, mixing & tamping, as well as drying, packaging, & transport.

Field factory

A temporary production site set up close to the construction area, combining workshop-level quality with the flexibility of onsite manufacturing — ideally making use of locally excavated material.