Leipzig’s 21st century landmarks

Leipzig, Germany is home to nearly 550 000 inhabitants, a popular destination for tourists and an attractive location for businesses. This is illustrated by three buildings with widely different functions, all of which characterise the city in their unique way.

The Leipzig City Tunnel, a centrepiece of the Central German S-Bahn, is a key element of the reorganisation of the railway system in the region. It follows the standard set by other German cities like Munich, by improving connections and providing a direct railway link between the area south of the city and the Leipzig Central Station, which existed since before the division of East and West Germany. On some routes, the new underground rail link reduces the total travel time by up to 40 minutes.

Between 8 - 16 m below ground, the new train tracks run along two single-track tunnels each 1438 m long, with a 7.9 m internal diameter. Cemex was able to provide the high level of technical and logistical expertise required by an engineering project of this scale. Our team in Germany supplied more than 350 000 m³ of concrete over five years for the project - from underwater concrete for the tunnel floors to self-compacting architectural concrete for the four underground stations.

Höfe am Brühl is a shopping centre in the heart of Leipzig that boasts 130 shops on three levels, a wide variety of eateries and 820 parking spaces. The Höfe, or “courtyard,” was built on historic Brühl Street, where the famous composer, W. Richard Wagner, was born.

Located in a busy commercial zone with narrow streets, this project required demanding logistics. Our team in Germany supplied the large-scale project with 85 000 m³ of ready-mix concrete, including standard construction concrete for the floor slab and the ceiling as well as high-strength concretes for the supports.

BMW™ is synonymous with elegance, class and superior engineering. The Central Building of its automobile plant in Leipzig reflects those attributes, receiving numerous architectural awards including first place in the Industrial Construction category at the Cemex Building Award 2006. The bold design by Zaha Hadid Architects, London, demonstrates how exposed concrete can offer a beautiful stylistic element in contemporary architecture.

The striking nerve centre of the plant is nestled between three huge production halls, linking the different production areas of the star-shaped, 26 000 m² overall complex. With its specific technical requirements, the design could only be realised with self-compacting concrete of the highest quality. The interior is characterised by complex geometric shapes created with 5000 m³ of exposed architectural concrete that Cemex supplied. Moreover, our Admixtures Group tailored special additives for this project.

Edited from source by Joseph Green. Source: Cemex

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/21042016/cemex-outlines-impressive-portfolio-projects-leipzig-946/