Hanse Trade Fair

The large trade fair hall and the adjoining circular building to be used for congresses, administration and gastronomy were realized in connection with the International Gardening Exhibition IGA 2003.

Two narrow buildings accommodating the foyer and secondary rooms, flank the 165 m long and 87.50 m wide column-free exhibition hall. They support the wooden roof structure of the hall, which is set off with window bands. This barrel-shaped net vault is a further development of the Zollinger construction method, which was named after its inventor in the 1920s. Through the use of laminated timber girders an 80 m span could be realized for the first time.

Hall and rotunda are linked by a roofed colonnade, which surrounds the rotunda and stretches across the complete length of the hall’s foyer as a classic architectural motif with slender steel columns and a lightweight timber roof. The circulation in the centre of the rotunda is provided via a broken-flight, symmetrical circular staircase, which is lit through a glass roof.

The simplicity of architectural means corresponds to the choice of materials: concrete, steel, timber, and glass with their inherent coloured aesthetic.