The three students were able to convince the jury with their project "Stuttgart Markthalle - The Floating Garden". The jury awarded an additional 2nd and 3rd prize as well as two commendations for a total of 37 submitted works with a wide variety of construction tasks. The 3 first prizes share prize money of 8000 euros.
Due to the pandemic, the jury did not meet until July 2022 and the award ceremony took place at the end of September. The sponsorship award is presented every 2 years as part of a competition organized by bauforumstahl e.V.. The competition evaluates designs and student research projects from the fields of structural engineering, bridge construction, construction operations and research. The winning work was developed in the 4th semester as a so-called "integrated project" under the supervision of Professors Sebastian Jehle and Peter Schlaier, supervised by Professors Volkmar Bleicher and Lutz Dickmann, Dipl.-Ing. Robert Brixner and Dipl.-Ing. Rainer Holderle.
The guiding idea of the design for a market hall in the west of Stuttgart is to develop a resource-saving and energy-saving building through the conscious use of materials and constructively simple connecting and joining elements. The work combines several innovative ideas: A vertical greening, a so-called hydroponic system, allows the self-production of fruits for later sale, the water and electricity supply is almost self-sufficient through the storage of rainwater and the use of OPV (Organic Photovoltaic) louvers, respectively. A modularly designed main structure allows a high degree of prefabrication, a fast and thus cost-effective assembly and can be transferred to other construction sites due to its flexibility in arrangement.
Urban concept
For the design of a market hall in the west of Stuttgart at Diakonissenplatz, the given urban situation on the one hand and the required structural concept for the outer appearance on the other hand were decisive and formative. In accordance with the special characteristic of Diakonissenplatz, its lush greenery, the filigree, transparent steel skeleton and the placement in an area with few trees is an attempt to conceal the building behind the existing trees, to maintain lines of sight and the natural character of the square. At the same time, a reaction is made to the existing buildings in that the building line of Rosenbergstrasse and Silberburgstrasse is taken up. In this way, a generously dimensioned green and quiet zone can be created, also due to the traffic-calmed area bordering the building site in the east, adjacent to the Dillmann High School. At the same time, a delivery zone towards Silberburgstraße will be created in the west.
Organic market hall concept
By means of a vertical greening, a so-called hydroculture system, we create an environmentally friendly, resource-saving settlement of useful plants and local own production of various fruits. The hydroponic system is located on the upper floor, slightly offset behind the facade, centrally on all four sides of the building and is divided and supported by a standard pipe coupling framework in eight levels. Ventilation as well as temperature control of the plants is provided, if required, by fully automatically controlled louvre windows. Rainwater, which is stored in a cistern, is used for irrigation. So-called OPV (Organic Photovoltaic) lamellas supply the market hall with environmentally friendly electricity. This results in an almost self-sufficient, cost-neutral supply of water and energy for the plants.
Modular concept
The main structure was designed as a modular construction and planned exclusively on the basis of a two-story module, which can be duplicated as often as desired and in all directions, thus enabling a high degree of variability in design and adaptability, even to building sites with different structures and spaces. In addition, the use of repetitive elements or modules with a high degree of prefabrication ensures fast and comparatively inexpensive assembly.
"In an outstanding manner, the authors develop the concept of an innovative market hall, which sustainably addresses both the socio-social as well as future requirements for energy and resource-saving construction. The placement of the two-story, square structure in the middle of the urban city space of Stuttgart's west is natural and easy. Accessibility and accessibility and likewise the demonstration of sustainable food production is an offer to the urban society: the market hall is not only a place of trade and culture, but also houses the closed cycle of a local food production on the 1st floor. The proposed hydroponic system uses natural lighting and ventilation, as well as collected rainwater for irrigation, and a PV system on the roof generates energy to power the hydroponic system. The cultivated products thus reach the citizen by a short route, to whom the architecture extends an inviting gesture: openness and transparency. This is made possible by the clever use of steel as a material, by virtuously combining the semi-finished products into an efficient modular system. Each load-bearing element is designed to optimize materials and resources, and the structural design takes into account aspects of ease of assembly and reusability. The modularity of the system also allows a wide range of application examples and floor plan configurations. In addition to this high degree of flexibility, the design of the steel structure and the cladding components can be attested a very high overall design quality.
The roofing of the central square is made with a light and translucent membrane construction, which can be easily anchored to the selected steel skeleton structure.
It spans the central place, which can be used as an urban cultural venue. This social multifunctionality is to be emphasized. The facade on the first floor responds accordingly, where the wings can be fully opened to integrate the outdoor space into its use.
With its clever positioning, broad functional mix, high architectural quality and excellently executed steel construction, the work exemplifies what lightweight and sustainable architecture with steel can look like in terms of the circular value creation of the future."
You can find out more about the award-winning project and the other winners on the website of bauforumstahl.
We warmly congratulate on this outstanding competition win!
Text source: Website of bauforumstahl/Wettbewerbe
