Project specs
- Location: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Client: Messe Frankfurt GmbH
- Architecture: Hascher Jehle Architektur
- Services provided by WIEHAG:
- 12 trusses with a 78 m free span and an additional 19.40 m of cantilever each.
- Total of 2,600 m³ glued laminated timber (spruce)
- Photographs: Messe Frankfurt GmbH, Svenja Bockhop
Project description
The 30 metre tall Hall 11, which was built according to the plans of Jehle, a Berlin-based architectural firm, provides over 23,000 m² of exhibition space on two levels.
The roof construction consists of 12 wooden trusses with steel tension diagonals in the interior of the hall and genuine timber frames with reinforcing plates for drift bolt connections in the tapered edge of the roof. The 78 m clear-span trusses, which together with 2x 19.40 m of cantilever have a total length of 116.80 m, are a masterpiece in timber engineering by WIEHAG. The trusses have a centre distance of 10.4 m and are connected via wooden beams in the top chord area. The wide cantilevered roof, with a length of 200 m, looks like a horizontal slab that appears to float above the structure. Roughly 2,600 m³ of glued laminated timber was used in the roof construction.
The new Hall 11, in which Messe Frankfurt GmbH invested around € 170 million, officially opened in September 2009 for the IAA and started with a highlight: The BMW Group presented its three brands BMW, MINI and Rolls Royce "under one roof" for the first time, and "The Ultimate Driving Machine" became more than just a slogan: Visitors were able to literally drive in the cars, something that the Bavarian car manufacturer had never done before at an exhibition.
In 2011, the roof construction of Hall 11 received the recognition award for new structures as part of the Deutscher Holzbaupreis [German Timber Construction Award]. Here's what the jury had to say:<i/>
The construction of Hall 11 in Frankfurt is further proof of the exciting possibilities offered by wood for large spans: 78 m spanned, 7.80 m high trusses arranged at a distance of 10 m create the framework of this impressive structure. The diagonals were implemented with minimized steel ties to achieve maximum transparency and lightness in the design. Using universal bolts screwed in at an angle to form the connections is particularly commendable in a support structure of this magnitude and proves that this method is effective.