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formers compared to reinforced concrete allows weight to be reduced
by up to 35 percent. “Our planning office had already met with positive
experiences using Cobiax products in other projects, and so they came
up with a perfect solution for this challenging project,” recall Detlev
Haasse and Christopher Gabbert, Project Managers at WTM Engineers.
The patented Cobiax system, consisting of 250 cm long reinforced steel
modules, where void formers are installed once the half-parts have been
put together, replaces up to 35 percent of concrete in areas where no
concrete is required for the (bending) load-bearing ability of the slab.
“Significant savings in materials and weight can be achieved through
using our technology,” explains Dipl.-Ing. Volkmar Wanninger,
Managing Director of Heinze Cobiax Deutschland GmbH. “The
positive impact on the building’s structural design provides the
architects with previously unthinkable opportunities for designing
further spaces: on the one hand through shallower slab depths, and on
the other through spanning up to 20 m.”
These advantages could be exploited to the full in the SPRINGER
QUARTIER, as various areas of the building could not have direct
foundations, complicated foundation issues arose at the property
boundaries and the varied uses on some floors made it necessary to use
different retaining wall designs. “Weight savings achieved by using our
void former systems made many of the retaining walls viable in the first
place, as well as constructing some parts of the building overhanging
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