The newly built Weleda Cradle Campus in Schwäbisch Gmünd has been awarded the first “Innovation Prize for Earthen Building” by the state of Baden-Württemberg. With this award, the Ministry of State Development and Housing recognizes outstanding earth building projects that demonstrate pioneering solutions in the construction industry. The award ceremony took place on Monday in the thematically appropriate setting of the Reute Monastery in Bad Waldsee, which recently received a new burial hall made of rammed earth.
Largest contiguous rammed earth building in Germany
The Weleda Cradle Campus won in the “commercial construction” category and was recognized for its innovative use of traditional building techniques. In her speech, Minister Nicole Razavi emphasized: “The projects submitted have impressively demonstrated that clay can be used as a modern building material - in the interests of climate protection and people's well-being.”
Afterwards, State Secretary Andrea Lindlohr emphasized in her laudatory speech that the high-bay warehouse of the Weleda Cradle Campus is currently the largest continuous rammed earth building in Germany. Thanks to the natural properties of rammed earth, which regulates both temperature and humidity, the building is not only sustainable but also particularly functional. Together with environmentally friendly energy and water concepts and a reduced sealed area, the Cradle Campus sets standards for sustainable construction. “This project is a shining example of sustainable construction methods,” said Lindlohr. Minister Razavi presented the award and expressed her wish that the award-winning projects would inspire other developers to follow suit.
Clay as a sustainable building material replaces air conditioning technology
Weleda, the world's leading brand for certified natural cosmetics and anthroposophic medicines, is centralizing its international and national logistics with the Cradle Campus, thus setting the course for the future. The modern new building comprises an administration building, a functional building and an innovative high-bay warehouse. Traditional building techniques were revived for the latter: rammed earth and clay plaster. All of the materials used come from the excavated material on site.
Project manager Daniela Trah is proud of the result: “Building the clay wall was an exciting challenge. As a pioneer, you don't have the advantage of being able to fall back on the experience of others. There is always a certain amount of uncertainty as to whether the material will meet all the requirements. But I am convinced that the extra effort was worth it.”
Thanks to the natural properties of the clay building material, which regulates both temperature and humidity, Weleda can completely dispense with conventional air conditioning technology in the high-bay warehouse. Clay is also particularly environmentally friendly: it can be reused an infinite number of times and fully returned to the natural cycle. Compared to conventional building materials such as concrete, clay also has a significantly lower CO2 footprint. The initial additional costs for the construction of the rammed earth wall are offset by the reduced energy requirements over a period of around 30 years.
Facts, figures and data on the Weleda Cradle Campus
- Optimized energy consumption
- Climate and environmentally friendly design
- sustainable building construction
- Area of the site: 72,000 m2
- Building footprint: 8,300 m2
- only around 20 % of the site is built over
- Sealed area: around 14,000 m2
- Dimensions of the buildings: (length/width/height)
- Administration building: 38 × 22 × 9 m
- Intermediate building: 30 × 35 × 5 meters
- Functional building: 80 × 40 × 24 meters
- High-bay warehouse for approx. 17,160 pallets: 81 × 38 × 26 meters
- Height of wooden rack: 30 m
- 70 parking spaces, some with e-charging stations
- 20 bicycle parking spaces with e-charging stations
Energy consumption
- A total of 6,720 meters of geothermal probe lines
- 48 boreholes at a depth of 140 meters
- 50 percent additional costs
- Amortization after approx. 12 to 14 years
- Around 10,000 photovoltaic modules on roof surfaces and facades
- Total yield of the PV system per year: approx. 1,298,132 KWh
High-bay warehouse
- Area: 3,115 m²
- Dimensions: 82 m long x 38 m wide
- Height (inside): 30 m
- Height (outside): 26 m
- Volume: 93,500 m³
- Shelf spaces: approx. 17,000
- Excavation mass of the building pit: 18,000 m³
- Reuse of excavated material for rammed earth wall and clay plaster: 3,000 m³
- Residual excavation for terrain modeling: 15,000 m³
- Construction time incl. material production on site: April 2022 to November 2022
