Freight hall Rächtenwisen Zurich Airport

Short description

The Rächtenwisen freight hall at Zurich Airport is an impressive new freight infrastructure. Implenia Holzbau implemented the project on behalf of Flughafen Zürich AG - and once again demonstrated how efficient sustainable timber construction can be.

The project

The new cargo building is being built in the Rächtenwisen area to the east of the airport site, adjacent to the current General Aviation Center (GAC). It is located within the airport perimeter, bordered by Flughafenstrasse and Fahrschulstrasse to the south. With the new hall, Flughafen Zürich AG wants to meet the new requirements of the cargo business with increasingly small, highly varied goods. The plan is for a single-storey warehouse with two-storey fixtures for offices and technical rooms. The planning focused on large spans. The freight hall is planned as a high-performance concrete column construction with a timber supporting structure, executed by Implenia Holzbau.

Services in detail

  • Factory planning
  • Production of the roof elements
  • Assembly

Challenges

  • The logistics of this project are very complex and the working time with the lifting equipment is limited due to airport operations. Every step requires millimeter-precise coordination and perfect planning.
  • It is particularly challenging to synchronize a large number of deliveries in a short space of time.
  • The large-format beams are only assembled at night between 11.30 p.m. and 5.30 a.m. so as not to disrupt airport operations.
  • The roof elements are installed during the day and at night.

Sustainability

An outstanding feature of this project is the timber construction method, which is becoming increasingly popular in large infrastructure projects. The use of wood as a central building element for the roof structure makes a significant contribution toCO2 reduction and sustainability. The lightweight timber supporting structure replaces heavy solid or steel construction methods, which significantly reduces energy consumption during the construction phase. In addition, wood is a renewable raw material that storesCO2 as it grows. Overall, this improves thecarbon footprint of buildings, which is particularly interesting for companies that want to optimize their ESG compliance.

Further information

  • Dimensions of the freight hall: main dimensions approx. 151 x 62 m, the roof area including canopies approx. 181 x 71 m.
  • The roof structure consists of glulam beams up to two meters high and 31 meters long, which are supported on prefabricated concrete columns in a grid of five meters.
  • In addition, the roof structure comprises a total of 12,600 m² of prefabricated ceiling elements, manufactured in the production hall of Implenia Holzbau, Rümlang.

Image: © Zurich Airport AG

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