dm-Drogerie Headquarters

With the dialogicum, dm drogerie-markt GmbH + Co. KG in Karlsruhe has created a new corporate headquarters that reflects the special characteristics and values of the drugstore retailer in its architecture. The dialogicum, as the new corporate headquarters building is called, is located on Durlacher Allee between Karlsruhe and Durlach, not far from a freeway interchange and an S-Bahn station, and offers space for around 1,800 employees. The design by Stuttgart architects Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei is their answer to the question of how people can find themselves at the center of architecture. The four-story parking garage to the west of the new building is designed as a green hill; the roof was partially led down to the ground, planted with greenery and fruit trees - to compensate for the built-over area. An amoeba-shaped green area with seating has also been created between the buildings. The floor plan of the office building resembles a honeycomb structure of intersecting elements that form or enclose a total of eight inner courtyards, which are also planted with greenery. Since some of these also serve as meeting places for employees, they are correspondingly generously dimensioned.

The energy concept aimed to achieve the KfW Efficiency House 55 standard. This is achieved through an interplay of thermal insulation, photovoltaic system and thermal building activation. This already starts with the facades: the balconies in front protect the outer areas of the wooden frame windows from the weather. The heating load of approx. 2,500 kW is covered by the district heating supply. In base load operation, heat is transferred via concrete core activation and heating ceilings. Additional heating surfaces or underfloor convectors support the system for individual temperature control (peak load operation). The required cooling capacity is generated centrally in the parking garage by chillers with turbo compressors (compression cooling). Distribution is done in the same way as heat distribution. The underfloor convectors can also be operated in condensing mode to dehumidify the room air. (Text source: www.baunetzwissen.de shortened version / dm-drogerie markt GmbH + Co. KG)