Landessparkasse Oldenburg (GER)

A new development with forward-looking tradition - glass halls and walkways with TG-THERM^®sun

The Landessparkasse zu Oldenburg (LzO) is the oldest savings bank in the world. Founded in 1776, it has been headquartered in the city of Oldenburg, in the northwest of the German state of Lower Saxony, since 1856. A new financial centre has since grown up around it, which continues to evolve along with the LzO‘s forward-looking tradition. Since its opening in May of 2009, its new headquarters at Berliner Platz accommodates 24,000 m² of space for service facilities for the savings bank as well as offices and business premises for some 600 employees.

The new complex consists of five four-story buildings and a ten-storey high-rise. The basic form resembles a capital ‚E‘, which is extended by the two standalone building sections. The ensemble is rounded off with an elliptical building. All four buildings are interconnected on all four floors by glass halls and walkways. With a view of the EWE Arena, visitors are greeted by the six-metre high bronze sculpture ‚Mann im Matsch‘ (Man in the Mud) by artist Thomas Schütte.

Sustainability and the environment were central to the planning of the new development. The design by Düsseldorf architects Rhode, Kellermann and Wawrowsky provides for easy orientation and short walking routes thanks to its clear, geometrical structure. The building uses geothermal heating systems.

One particular challenge with the approximately 3,000 m² of insulating glass in the connecting halls was the combination of solar protection and alarm strips at a required maximum pane size of 4,070 x 2,940 mm. This was made possible thanks to TG-THERM^®sun insulating glass panes. The special solar protection layer ensures that only 25% of solar energy passes through at high rates of light transmission. The panes let enough light in during the day and the rooms will not heat up from incident sunlight. Proper heat insulation is provided by interlayer spaces filled with the noble gas Argon and the stainless steel spacers. These prevent cold bridges and keep the heat inside the building. For the required level of security, anti-vandal TG-PROTECT^® laminated safety glass and TG-ESG^®-H tempered safety glass with TG-ALARM alarm strips reinforce the insulating glass unit.