Gecko Wiesmann – Dülmen

Location:
An der Lehmkuhle – D-48249 Dülmen/Westfalen
Scope of work:
shell construction (incl. glazing + roofing)
Contract amount:
> 1.0m €
Completion:
04/2008
Project management:
Ulf Cordes
Work preparation:
Heiko Wulff
Logistics/Coordination:
Bernd Schröder
Supervisor of assembly:
Frank Patzenhauer
Wilfried Hoops

Description

Wiesmann Sports Cars is a German car manufacturer, who built over 1500 cars in Dülmen/Westfalen so far. The logo of Wiesmann is a gecko, because the cars “stick to the road like geckos to a wall”.

Due to the strong growth in recent years with a production of about 150-200 vehicles per year, the company has built a new factory, made with lots of glass. The hallmark of the new building is a giant gecko (based on the vehicle logo) with a length of 155m, which was erected upon the roof and can be seen from the A 43 motorway.

Originally the gecko was designed as a steel construction with a membrane cover, a company was already commissioned, which was specialized in projects with membrane covers. This company, however, led other major projects at the same time and finally canceled the job. That’s when Cordes entered the equation. The setting was a decision of feasibility as well as a package deal within a week.

In collaboration with Création Holz from Switzerland / Hermann Blumer a static concept was developed, the offer was defined and, finally, the conditions were created that the project could be realized. The building owners wanted to show as much of the structure as possible, which could be implemented very well with the wooden structure. Included in our order were the wooden construction, the roofing and glazing, which means the outer shell above the foundation.

tail and feet

Concerning the tail it was initially planned to use threaded bolts, which should be glued in. Unfortunately this was not possible under German conditions and building laws. Ultimately, it was decided to use self-drilling screws from the manufacturer SFS for the numerous end-grain fittings. However, in this application there are significant deviations from the general technical approval, which required a specific approval. Prof. Dr. Blass from the University of Karlsruhe wrote a report for the specific approval, and he agreed to use the screws. The deviations from the general technical approval concern:

  1. Except wood to wood connections there should be performed steel to wood connections, which were not covered by the approval.
  2. In some cases the distances between the connectors were smaller than the minimum distances specified in the approval.
  3. Part of the connections are exposed to the weather therefore attributable to utilisation class 3.

The effort of engineering services was immense – it was more than 3,500 hours of engineering, that were needed for static calculation and work preparation. For example, just the steel fabrication drawings of the necessary parts for the tail and the feet include more than 1,150 pages.

If you have questions about the project, you may talk to our technical editor Heiko Wulff , who did an excellent – and very exhausting and time consuming – job.

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