A look behind the facade

To assess the reuse potential of the HIL’s approximately 6,000 facade elements, a section of the facade was opened and examined in detail.

Crane lifting a large glass panel out of the HIL facade.

1 / 4 Removal of an original facade glazing panel from 1976.

View from inside the building through an opened facade section towards the opposite HIL facade.

2 / 4 View from the opened facade section towards the HIL facade.

Work platform positioned in front of an opened facade section during the facade investigation at HIL.

3 / 4 Opening the facade enables investigations directly on the existing building fabric.

Opened facade section showing facade layers, structural components and temporary weather protection measures.

4 / 4 The opened facade section reveals the multi-layered facade assembly.

The HIL facade covers an impressive area of 16,100 m² and consists of around 6,000 individual elements, including approximately 2,300 glass panels and 3,700 metal panels. As part of several input projects, we are currently investigating the construction and condition of these components. The aim is to assess their potential for reuse as part of the planned renovation.

The warm summer days provided an ideal opportunity to open up a section of the facade and examine its structure in detail. The findings provide an important basis for planning the upcoming facade renovation and support our goal of retaining and reusing as much of the existing building fabric as possible.

Our website currently features six input projects focused on the facade. Explore them to learn more.