Mercedes-Benz World
Brooklands - Surrey, UK
The new Mercedes-Benz World has been constructed on part of the old Brooklands racetrack, a few miles South-West of London. Nowadays there is a Business Park inside the area of the old circuit where, before World War II, the main sports car manufacturers of that time, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo and Lotus, used to compete in endurance marathons. Daimler Chrysler Retail ltd. wanted to recall the historical splendour and importance of the area and decided to build its Mercedes-Benz World, a Mercedes experience adjacent to a restored part of the track. The innovative design, particularly the new conical façade of the Brand Gallery represents the modern image of Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz Brookland websiteCredits
Architect: AUKETT Fitzroy Robinson
Client: Daimler Chrysler Retail ltd.
Contractor: Warings Contractor ltd.
The tecnology
Glazed and spandrel structural façades (L=12 M - H=18 m) Pressure Cap glazing (L=3m-H=6/12m) Conic Glazing and rainscreen cladding (main radius R=15m - H=26m)
High Performance Double Glazing Units with external pressure caps system, structural bay glazing and main entrances. The particular structure of this building with a 6m slab to slab height and 3 m wide architectural modules has inevitably required the design of strong façade mullions with steel reinforcement. The main entrances and the show rooms have void heights of 18m and 12m respectively. Bespoke elliptical shaped horizontal beams have been designed in order to reduce the façade vertical deflection. The particular structure of the Brand Gallery: a conical geometry with the cone axis at 11° towards the vertical, has required a complete 3D design of each anchoring areas and of each one of the façade system element. In particular the cladding units, deriving from this geometry, have a conical shape with curved radius with variable heights and angles. The vision part of the façade has been simplified by using facetted glazing units with irregular trapezoidal shape. Glazing units for facetted façades typical dimension: 3000Lx2200H Facetted façades units max. dimension: 3500Lx2600H Brand Gallery panels max. dimension: 2000Lx3200H
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