Municipial Utilities Karlsruhe

Renovating to improve energy efficiency In the course of the energy-oriented renovation at Stadtwerke Karlsruhe, a new interior and workplace concept was developed. The compa-ny's head office building, which dates from 1977, combines customer areas, a kitchen with can-teen, workshops and offices for up to 550 em-ployees. The task assigned to architectural office Scope, based in Stuttgart, was to come up with a design language for the newly modernised offices that would reflect the values of the company whilst retaining its traditional heritage. Through its INDUCOOL panels, Kiefer was able to meet both the technical and visual require-ments to bring about this exceptional working environment. The Kiefer INDUCOOL chilled ceiling panel forms a visual and functional whole, in combination with fabric-covered acoustic sails. The overall visual tone, with understated white surfaces, is deliberately accentuated with elements of colour, and the work islands of the open-plan offices are reflected in the zoned ceiling design. In addition to optimum room acoustics, the partly hinged acoustic sails make these ceiling areas accessible for maintenance and enable access to con-trol equipment. Furthermore, the INDUCOOL chilled ceiling panel occupies just 5 % of the total ceiling area, making such tasks even more straightforward. For the larger, open-plan areas, a cooling load of 50 W/m² can be comforta-bly attained with just a double air exchange rate. Dur-ing a visit to our flow laboratory in Stuttgart, a visually impressive smoke and particle test was carried out to demonstrate all the functions and properties of the INDUCOOL chilled ceiling panel to the leading design engineers.