Open-cell ceilings from durlum were installed at the new headquarters of Elektrizitätswerke Schoenau in the small town of Schoenau in southern Germany.

Established following the Tschernobyl nuclear disaster in April 1986 as an initiative for a future free of atomic power, EWS Schoenau has now grown into a successful company that supplies green electricity and biogas to about 215,000 customers across Germany.

To accommodate the needs of the growing company, a new sustainable building was constructed to serve as their new headquarters. Designed by Harter + Kanzler & Partner architects, the building features an events area and cafeteria for the employees. The LIVA open-cell ceiling from durlum sets the tone visually with its white blade louvres arranged at right angles to one another to create a ceiling with a homogeneous, bright look and feel. The free cross-section, in excess of 95%, made it possible to install 'invisible' black low frequency absorbers above the LIVA elements to enhance the acoustic properties of the activity space.

The light and airy character of the cafeteria ceiling is seamlessly carried through to the sanitary facilities, corridors and cloakroom area, using durlum’s white QUADRA single-blade louvre open-cell ceiling to create a harmonious whole.

Completed in May 2020, the new EWS Schoenau HQ cafeteria/ events space features the LIVA multidirectional louvre open-cell ceiling with louvres (150mm height x 98mm width) in aluminium, both sides pre-coated in white and covering a surface area of 121m². Additionally, low frequency absorbers in black were suspended in the ceiling cavity.

For the sanitary facilities, corridors and cloakroom ceilings, QUADRA single-blade open-cell ceilings with open-cell dimension of 40 x 40mm were installed, featuring louvres (30mm height) constructed from 0.6mm aluminium in white, and covering a surface area of 73m².

Additionally, the serving counter in the cafeteria featured rectangular metal panels in the FS4.2 hook-on system made from aluminium with a DUROPLAN A060 surface, covering an area of 14.5m².

Photos: © Olaf Herzog