GERMAN SPINNING MILL TURNED INTO LUXURIOUS COMMERCIAL COMPLEX

A landmark of Germany’s industrial past, the Augsburger Kammgarn Spinnerei has undergone a state-of-the-art upgrade, blossoming into a modern retail and office space. The resulting complex now serves as a showpiece for the city of Augsburg, even yielding them the 2016 Honorary Award for Building Culture of the München Metropolitan Region.

The industrialization of the 19th century caused an enormous surge of the textile industry in Augsburg, Germany. The worsted spinning mill of the Augsburger Kammgarn Spinnerei (AKS) was built in 1836 and employed up to 2,000 workers during its heyday, making it one of the largest spinning mills in Europe.

The spinning mill drew its last breath by 2004. Following a few years of decay, it was renovated and transformed into the retail and office center it is today. Through a close collaboration between the owners and the city of Augsburg, the 7 hectare-sized vacant plot on which the Spinnerei was located was completely rearranged and redesigned. Drawing on the building’s industrial past, the complex was given the name Quatersite Kammgarnquartier Augsburg.

In addition to the renovation of the original building, the complex was joined by two new volumes. One houses a supermarket store, while the other is an exposed, stacked building with a circular balcony that provides space to several restaurants and offices. This expansion allows visitors to shop and work in a buzzing urban environment.

Apart from the new additions, the renovation of the former production hall was the focus of the project, the centerpiece being its ceiling made up of 13 vaulted concrete roofs. The plan was to house a REWE supermarket under 5 of the vaulted roofs, with the other 8 serving as a parking space. The hall was supplemented with a new low-rise building containing an ALDI store and a separate building with offices and a restaurant. 

For the roofing company hired for the project, Spenglerei Roth GmbH, it was very important to work with a solution that kept the number of seams to a minimum. After extensive consultation, the Elevate RubberGard EPDM roofing membrane was chosen. Lightweight and extremely flexible, it adapts easily to irregular shapes and can be used over existing roofing systems, making it ideal for renovations.

The availability of RubberGard EPDM in large seamless sheets was another very important decision factor for the roofing company involved in the project, as they wanted to work with a solution that would allow keeping the number of seams to a minimum.

A total of approximately 16,000 m² of RubberGard EPDM with a thickness of 1.5 mm were used in the Quatersite Kammgarnquartier Augsburg. The membrane was fully adhered onto the 20 cm thick concrete vaulted roof deck of the former production hall, in accordance with local regulations for listed buildings. Just one RubberGard EPDM panel with a width of 12 meters was used to waterproof the roof of the ALDI store, over which gravel was then applied as ballast. The roof of the detached building was also ballasted with gravel and the 64 balcony doors were reliably and permanently sealed using Elevate QuickSeam products. 

EPDM is the most future-proof roofing solution when it comes to sustainability, performance and design freedom. Learn more about the role it played within this project and many others by discovering its benefits.