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The German Sport University Cologne is one of the largest sports schools in Europe and is renowned in the field of sports research. A new scientific-medical institute was established for this area. The new building consists of seven floors, five upper and two underground. It was built in a reinforced concrete skeleton construction. Arup is responsible for the structure and the fire protection as well as the facade planning and tendering in close consultation with the architects.
Earthquake-proof building
The seismic activities at the site had to be taken into account when carrying out the structural design. In order to make the new university building earthquake-proof, Arup carried out extensive dynamic investigations and developed suitable solutions. The entrance area with its two free-standing upper floors was particularly demanding: steel roof beams in the façade will support the two upper floors in case of earthmoving.
Highlight facade design
The striking lamellar structure of the facade is immediately apparent. At a second glance, it can be seen that some of the slats are turned in different directions and appear lighter. Over the entire area, they recreated the 100 m world record print of Usain Bolt from the year 2009 in Berlin. Each floor represents a running track. The brighter surfaces symbolize the runners and their current speed. The longer a bright surface the faster the speed.
