Eckert & Ziegler AG relocated to the new 5,000 m2 headquarters in 2012 in time for their 20th anniversary, which was designed by Berlin architecture firm Hofmann Architekten.
The company wanted to incorporate its logo – an ellipse encased by a rectangle – into the design. This was fulfilled by Hofmann Architekten in the form of an energy-efficient design, featuring an exposed conference room in the geometrical shape of the logo.
The conference room offers a 180-degree view over the Berlin district of Buch.
Featuring a unique architecture, the conference room of the new office located in the elliptically-shaped roof, includes huge glass elements which projects 4.5m over the façade.
Due to concavity and southern orientation of the building, the 60 m2 façade glazing is exposed to direct sunlight during the day.
The shape of the building made a variable external shading system redundant because of issues related to installation, maintenance, and rigid solar protection.
Aesthetic demands were also important as the shading system would have ruined the conference room’s optical representation of the Eckert & Ziegler logo.
To overcome these challenges, ECONTROL 48/9 dimmable solar control was chosen which enabled the solar factor and light transmission to be adapted individually to the amount of solar irradiation.
The glass also prevents the room from heat and distracting glare as the solar factor is continuously adjustable between 33 and nine percent, which avoids additional shading and provides view from the conference room.
Its transparency at maximum coloration is 13%.
Internally, the glass features nanostructured coating, which is tinted blue by “electrochromic effect”, as soon as a low voltage (3 volts) is applied.
When set at ‘light’, 48% of the daylight will enter the room. At a Ug value of 0.7 W/(m²K), ECONTROL 48/9 also provides protection against heat losses.
According to Hofmann, the EControl glazing with electrochromic technology has provided an energy-efficient solution.
The new office of Eckert & Ziegler AG has an extending roof with rectangular, red-painted roof elements.
