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Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building.
Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH

Client:
Private Universität Witten/Herdecke GmbH, Witten

Total construction time:
5/2020 - 9/2021

Location:
58455 Witten/Herdecke

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University, Witten-Herdecke

The three-storey building was designed by Berlin architects Kaden+Lager as a timber hybrid construction. In addition to office, administration and seminar rooms, this extension also includes the library, event rooms and a café-bar and offers its current 2,600 students and over 900 employees a space for the future.

The building is not only intended to be one of the most sustainable university buildings in Germany, but also to offer a thoroughly modern, dialog-oriented working and learning environment. ZÜBLIN Timber is constructing the skeleton structure from glulam with LENO® cross laminated timber ceilings, while the basement is designed as a sloping concrete floor. The post-and-beam and exterior façades made of untreated local softwood appear dynamic and light, adapting to the conditions of the surroundings. Floor-to-ceiling wood-aluminum windows, which can be opened from the inside, contribute to the optimal incidence of light and indoor climate. The focus in the interior spaces is on openness and communication, but there are also places of retreat for concentrated work. In addition, all rooms can be flexibly and quickly adapted to different usage requirements; the possibility of connecting the new building to the existing buildings has also already been taken into account.

The low-tech energy concept, which impresses with its simple handling and innovative building technology with a combined heat and power plant, is all about sustainability. Roof terraces and a newly designed outdoor area with a campus square and campus park provide communication and recreation zones to increase the quality of stay.

More information on the project and sustainability can be found here: UWH project

German press
Witten/Herdecke University opts for wood
Ground-breaking ceremony
Start of timber construction
Topping-out ceremony
Opening
Sustainable building certification

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Photo of three men in construction site clothing at the ground-breaking ceremony for Witten University. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
Digital ground-breaking ceremony; source: Witten/Herdecke University (German vision)

Production and assembly

  • Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see the assembly of large wooden elements. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see the assembly of large wooden elements. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of Witten University from the inside. You can see glulam beams and a large LENO wooden ceiling. © Johannes Buldmann, UHW
    Photo of Witten University from the inside. You can see glulam beams and a large LENO wooden ceiling. © Johannes Buldmann, UHW
  • Photo of Witten University from the inside. You can see glulam beams and a LENO wooden ceiling. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the inside. You can see glulam beams and a LENO wooden ceiling. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see the assembly of large wooden elements from a bird's eye view © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see the assembly of large wooden elements from a bird's eye view © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see the assembly of large wooden elements from a bird's eye view © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see the assembly of large wooden elements from a bird's eye view © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see the assembly of the glulam beams and timber elements. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see the assembly of the glulam beams and timber elements. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a bird's eye view of the wooden shell in dim lighting. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a bird's eye view of the wooden shell in dim lighting. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building, an excavator and people. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building, an excavator and people. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of Witten University from the inside. You can see an interior with many wooden surfaces. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the inside. You can see an interior with many wooden surfaces. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of the inside of Witten University. You can see an interior with light-colored walls and a wooden ceiling © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of the inside of Witten University. You can see an interior with light-colored walls and a wooden ceiling © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building from a bird's eye view. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building from a bird's eye view. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH

Impressions

  • Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Classroom at the University of Witten. You can see a furnished interior with a LENO wooden ceiling. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Classroom at the University of Witten. You can see a furnished interior with a LENO wooden ceiling. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of a furnished office space at Witten University. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of a furnished office space at Witten University. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of a furnished common room at Witten University. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of a furnished common room at Witten University. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of a furnished common room at Witten University. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of a furnished common room at Witten University. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of a lecture hall furnished with red chairs at Witten University. You can see a large wooden ceiling. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of a lecture hall furnished with red chairs at Witten University. You can see a large wooden ceiling. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of the library at Witten University. You can see lots of books, a wooden ceiling and wooden stairs. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of the library at Witten University. You can see lots of books, a wooden ceiling and wooden stairs. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building from a bird's eye view. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
    Photo of Witten University from the outside. You can see a large wooden building from a bird's eye view. © Johannes Buldmann, UWH
  • Our services
    • Turnkey service as general contractor
  • Products used

    LENO® cross laminated timber ceilings and walls, glulam columns and clamps

  • Architectural office

    Kaden+Lager GmbH, Berlin - successor to Lager Schwertfeger, Berlin

  • Engineering office/structural planning

    Structural design ifb Berlin

  • Engineering office for building technology / building physics

    Transplan Stuttgart

  • Building owner

    Private University Witten/Herdecke GmbH, Witten

Factsheet

With the project for the University of Witten/Herdecke, we - together with the Berlin architects Kaden + Lager - fully exploited the potential of timber hybrid construction: The result is one of the most sustainable university buildings in Germany. (2021)

Sustainable new build made of wood (PDF)