17.05.2010 - LVM Münster

Insurance offices with a difference

Office buildings for insurance companies rarely make headlines for their architectural elegance and imaginative use of colour. Yet the new LVM insurance building in Münster presents itself colourful, well-designed, open and inviting. The design is based on a winning competition entry by the architect Professor Duk–Kyu Ryang and was implemented in collaboration with the architectural practice HPP Düsseldorf. The LVM, which stands for Landwirtschaftlicher Versicherungsverein Münster (agricultural insurance association Münster), is among the twenty leading primary insurers in Germany, with around three million customers and just under nine million contracts. In 2008, the attractive new office building received the North Rhine-Westphalia Award for Architecture in the category “energy-efficient building for the future”.

The new “LVM 7” building links to the existing “LVM 6” wing and accommodates about 600 staff on a floorspace of around 12,000 square metres. The building’s outline both in terms of height and floorplan layout is carefully structured. To avoid any negative impact on the residential buildings opposite, the office building is staggered, rising from three floors at the back to eight floors near the entrance area, which accommodates the vertical access routes as well as conference and meeting rooms. The floorplan has a comb-shaped layout: one straight main access – referred to by the architects as the “magistral” – serves six separate building tracts, which are joined via glass walls and roofs to form one main block running parallel to the road. This creates courtyards and atria that lend the whole complex a surprising lightness, despite its considerable size. Each of the staggered office tracts has a depth of 12 metres (column grid spacing: 11.8 metres) and all are designed to allow flexibility in their use. From individual offices to group and meeting rooms to open-plan, the floor grid and height allows for different set-ups and uses to match staff requirements. The building’s shallow depth means there are no dark internal spaces; long corridors through the blocks have been avoided. All workspaces have plenty of daylight and the building manages largely without the need for artificial ventilation.

A particularly attractive feature of the new insurance building is its colourful façade. Vertical strips of translucent film in different colours were inlaid intermittently in the insulating glass panels. This gives the building a friendly and vibrant appearance from the outside as well as from within. Colourful elements from the surrounding environment are picked up in the façade, adding a distinct lightness to a rather sizeable building complex. The environment also benefits from the special energy-efficiency approach taken in the design of the building. Boreholes were drilled below the floor of the underground car park to allow geothermal power to be used for heating and cooling of the building. A ground-source heat pump is used in combination with geothermal heat exchangers, and a network of pipes integrated in the building’s floors and ceilings controls its temperature. To aid ventilation, the atrium façades linking the building tracts on Sperlichstraße are provided with computer-controlled air vents at ground-floor level and slotted vents on the upper levels. Photovoltaic cells in the glass panels of the atrium roofs convert solar energy into electricity for use in the building. Further sustainability features include an underground tank for rainwater harvesting. The water is then pumped through a separate system and used to flush the WCs. In the design of the office spaces themselves, it was clear from the outset that the brief asked for bright and airy rooms filled with natural light. Equally important was to create a space that promotes focused and undisturbed work, but also provides options for teamwork, communication and collaboration. In response to this challenge the architects came up with the fully glazed corridor walls and transparent external walls, which give the whole complex its open and friendly appearance. The theme is continued in the generously sized and well-equipped kitchen areas, designed to facilitate communication and exchange as well as offering a relaxing space for break times. The different office tracts vary in size, ranging from 150 square metres (including auxiliary rooms) for 10 to 14 staff to 650 square metres (including auxiliary rooms) for 42 to 62 staff. The energy-efficiency brief and the building’s design influenced the choice of office furniture and equipment. For example, ceilings that are used for thermal control cannot be clad with acoustic panels. Instead, sound-attenuating surfaces had to be provided largely via the office furniture. Equally, glazed walls are not ideal in terms of their sound-absorbing properties. The designers of the office interior were therefore faced with multiple challenges: the brief asked for high functionality and user-friendliness, well-designed and aesthetically pleasing office furniture with optimised acoustic performance and excellent environmental credentials, and – of course – all of this while providing good value for money.

The Karben-based manufacturer König + Neurath, long-standing office furniture supplier to the LVM, came up trumps with its range – starting with the internal walls: the transparent partition walls separating the corridors from the offices are from König + Neurath’s popular HORIZONTE range. For the architects and their client a key consideration in choosing these panels was their slender profiles, easy installation via post and rail joints and highly aesthetic design. In the event of later changes or reconfigurations, the HORIZONTE system guarantees straightforward installation combined with high durability. To optimise acoustic performance König + Neurath’s PIANO cabinets were the ideal solution. Their sound-absorbing perforated surfaces are not only highly effective, but also very attractive and fit extremely well with the architectural aesthetic of the building. Concealed behind their perforated-metal fronts are low-frequency absorbers providing much improved office acoustics. One of the most important requirements of the brief was for the new offices to offer a pleasant work environment for the insurer’s staff. Workspaces were to be designed with good functionality and usability in mind. This is where the workstation system METRA came to the fore, with preference given to its motorised height-adjustable freeform-desktop version. It means that users can decide individually and spontaneously whether to work standing up or sitting down, and whether to set the desk slightly higher or slightly lower, depending on each user’s preference and the task in hand. This versatility and convenience creates a workplace environment fit for the 21st century. The workstations are complemented by sturdy steel pedestals from König + Neurath’s CONTAINER range. The furniture and partitions made by König + Neurath blend harmoniously with the attractive design of the building while offering a high degree of comfort and functionality – exactly the criteria that matter in a contemporary office environment. As work is becoming increasingly complex and demanding it is now more important than ever that employees feel happy at their workplace and know that their needs are taken seriously. Author: W.O.Geberzahn