WZB Hamburg

Administration and warehouse facilities were located at different sites, complicating coordination between them. And to make matters worse, office space had long since reached its limits. Having experienced continuous growth, WZB Wachsmuth & Ziesche Bauunternehmung GmbH had been looking for a new location for its company headquarters for quite a long time. And the Hamburg-based firm finally found just the right place in Geesthacht – where it erected a new building to state-of-the-art energy standards. A large portion of that new building uses JACKODUR® EVO inverted roof insulation.

“This new building will meet our needs perfectly for years to come,” reports managing partner Carlo Ziesche: “The offices offer a spacious, modern work environment. And their direct proximity to the storage hangar and to our building yard now makes everyday coordination so much easier.” As a result, the move from downtown Hamburg out to its proverbial “affluent suburbs” has paid off handsomely. “Finding this 3800-square-meter plot of land on Leibnizstrasse in Geesthacht was a real stroke of luck for us,” continues Carlo Ziesche.

Just six months after the opening ceremony, the employees were able to move into the functional new building. Proud of the fast-paced construction and the rapidly growing new premises, WZB had the progress regularly photographed with a drone. With 450 square meters of floorspace spread over two stories, the new building provides modern workplaces for WZB’s construction experts. “Almost immediately after we moved in, an extended heat wave hit with peak temperatures above 35°C (95°F). That was a real acid test for the inverted roof insulation right from day one,” adds Ziesche.

The ceiling was made of waterproof concrete according to DAfStb (German Committee for Reinforced Concrete) guidelines and without the use of sealing sheets. The structure exceeded all expectations and proved effective even during the record summer heat as a protective shield for the offices underneath. “We were surprised to find that we hardly ever needed to run the air conditioning system: the offices maintained comfortable conditions at all times,” continued the CEO.

The reason for this is up on the roof: a 400-mm-thick layer of insulation with JACKODUR® EVO 300 Standard SF. This newly developed product enables rapid, secure, single-layer installation for the first time in thicknesses of up to 400 mm – with a consistent lambda value of λ_D = 0.032 W/(m·K). Permanently laminated at the factory, these multilayer boards also provide for particularly reliable and uncomplicated handling along with considerable time savings as compared with installing multiple insulation layers. Made of XPS, they feature good compressive strength, dimensional stability, moisture resistance and rot resistance – and are also extremely durable, of course. JACKODUR® filter layer WA was added to the JACKODUR^® EVO inverted roof structure along with at least 5 cm of 16/32 gravel as ballast.

With this tailor-made solution, the gravel-covered inverted roof achieves outstanding insulation performance: the U value is just 0.08 W/(m² x K). The company’s two general managers, Mr. Wachsmuth and Mr. Ziesche, felt very strongly about the new building’s high energy performance standards and wanted to do their part for ecology and climate protection. WZB also uses solar panels on the roof of the storage hangar to produce a large share of the energy it consumes. As a result, the company expects to consume much less energy for winter heating than it did at its previous headquarters.

“We’ve already gained extensive positive experience on numerous projects using both waterproof concrete roofs and JACKODUR^® insulation,” insists Carlo Ziesche. So that made the decision to use proven inverted roof technology for the company’s own new offices an easy one. “We were impressed with the way JACKON Insulation by BEWI provided exemplary personal consultation on the use of the new product in advance – and similarly impressed with their order processing and their service support during the installation. That’s why we were glad to help develop design solutions for the use of this new JACKODUR® product,” explains the building contractor with more than thirty years of experience in the industry.

WZB Wachsmuth & Ziesche Bauunternehmung GmbH has operated successfully in the construction market of Northern Germany for more than ten years now. With extensive experience and solid expertise, the company has specialized in the new construction, modernization and repair of residential and commercial buildings. The company’s two founders and general managers place particular importance on traditional Hanseatic values – like reliability, conscientiousness and continuous commitment to high quality.