Foundation stone laid for a net-zero office building on the Lagarde Campus in Bamberg
On Tuesday, our company owner and developer, Sebastian Hölzlein, laid the foundation stone for the new headquarters of his company, Alpha IC GmbH, at Platz der Menschenrechte 1 on the Lagarde Campus in Bamberg. The two-storey sustainable office building with a total gross floor area of 2,079 m² will be ready for occupancy at the beginning of 2025 and was designed by the Münster-based architectural firm hehnpohl.
In his speech, Sebastian Hölzlein emphasized what is special about the commercial property, which will be called RESI from now on. After 15 years of searching in the city of Bamberg, he was delighted to have found a new home for Alpha IC and its sister company Serthoro GmbH in such a historic location and forward-looking new district. "We are sustainability consultants and wanted to build a sustainable, low-tech building. That's why a lot of building physics, simulation and development work was put into it by our own team and everyone involved. It will be a house without heating and cooling that has a balanced CO2 balance with its photovoltaic system on the roof." With this approach, he is making his brother Christian Hölzlein, Managing Director of Hölzlein Ingenieure, who are supporting the project as technical building planners, at least partially "unemployed".
Arno Hölzlein, founder of the engineering firm Hölzlein Ingenieure, which his son Christian continues to run, recalled in his short speech that he renovated thirty buildings on the American barracks site in 1970. "I would never have dreamed that I would be standing here 50 years later and my son Sebastian would be building a new company building here." With a wink, he promised the employees present that if the concept "without heating and cooling" did not work out, he would borrow an old heating stove.
The architects also had to incorporate the building physics requirements into their design. Office owner Christian Pohl, who had traveled all the way from Münster, emphasized three points in his speech as to why he, his partner Marc Hehn and the project team led by André Siering and Merle Heitmann were delighted and honored to be involved in the project:
„Bei diesem Bauherrn und seinem Team ist Nachhaltigkeit nicht nur ein Lippenbekenntnis. Dazu haben wir gerne die Herausforderung angenommen, an diesem exponierten Ort, für das Gebäude im Rahmen der Konver-sion vom historisch-militärischen Kontext zu einem Platz der Kultur und Menschenrechte eine zeit-gemäße und passende Architektursprache zu entwickeln. Und nicht zuletzt, weil Materialität letztlich ein Gebäude ausmacht, ist es ein wichtiges Zeichen, innerhalb des Konzepts des zirkulären Bauens hier mit recycelten Klinkern zu arbeiten.“
Another aspect that makes this pilot project for sustainable construction special is the partnership-based cooperation between the client and the general contractor, ZECH Bau SE, as part of the "Guaranteed maximum price" construction contract model.
Heiko Popp, technical manager of the responsible Nuremberg branch, and Sebastian Hölzlein agreed that thanks to the intensive cooperation, the construction period of only twelve months and effective quality and budget control were already possible in the pre-construction phase.
In the presence of his family, his building contractor partner Thomas Kohmann, representatives of construction companies and suppliers as well as numerous employees, the entrepreneur then filled a time capsule that will be buried in the future entrance area of the building. Items of symbolic value, such as a current issue of the Fränkischer Tag, family photos, planning data for the building, photos, letters from his three sons and also a reminder from the ongoing World Climate Conference in Dubai to do more to combat climate change, were enclosed here. "For our children and a future worth living, that's what we're doing all this for," Sebastian Hölzlein concluded the small family ceremony, before all those present were treated to refreshments on the new building's concrete slab, which had just been poured.
The Bamberg entrepreneur is still looking for tenants with the same values for the new building. On the first floor of the commercial property with the cheerful name "RESI" there is space for a café with an outdoor bar area and on the second floor there are up to three office units ranging from 105 to 208 m². RESI is an acronym for Responsibility, Excellence, Sustainability and Innovation or Inspiration. More information about this project can be found here: https://www.alpha-ic.com/journal/ich-bin-die-resi-low-tech-null-energie-aber-voller-power
Dipl.-Ing. Sebastian Hölzlein, Managing Partner of Alpha IC GmbH and client
Phone: +49 951 917 683-30
