Skypark Business Center, Luxembourg Airport, Luxembourg

Multiple countries, one goal: protecting the timber construction of this extraordinary building from the elements and water ingress. The installers used a total of 43,000m2 of Wetguard Membrane. Austria-based Binder Holz is one of the largest CLT manufacturers in Europe. It preassembled a large portion of this membrane in its factory. Luxembourg timber construction company Steffen Holzbau S.A. then sealed the CLT boards’ joints on site. SIGA supported the companies with custom Wetguard membranes. Germany-based TBS Trockenbau also used SIGA’s Hygrobrid ® Majrex 200 vapour control layer on the interior of the wall and roof construction.

Skypark Business Center at Luxembourg Airport is an impressive building greatly focused on energy efficiency and sustainability. One means to this end is cross-laminated timber (or CLT for short). Since wood is a renewable material and the production of CLT consumes comparatively little energy, CLT is an environmentally friendly alternative to concrete or steel. Furthermore, various technical systems (e.g. displacement ventilation) were incorporated in the project located right next to the passenger terminal. These systems ensure good room quality and reduce energy consumption. The wooden ceilings remain visible in the finished building. Roof gardens and a double façade also form part of the sustainable concept, promoting the well-being of users and minimising the impact on the environment.

The building contains a four-storey underground car park, retail spaces, a hotel section, restaurants, offices and more.

Hello, Markus. Thank you very much for taking the time to share your experiences at Steffen Holzbau and with the Skypark Business Center project at Luxembourg Airport in particular. To begin with, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Hello. I am 47 years old and I work as a master carpenter and a structural engineer. I have been working at Steffen Holzbau since 2003.

Can you tell us more about your duties and responsibilities at the company?

My main area of work is to supervise major construction projects. I am responsible for anything to do with construction management, including planning, procurement, managing people on site, accounting, logistics and plenty more.

Let’s talk about the Skypark Business Center project. What was particularly challenging in this project at Luxembourg Airport?

The Skypark Business Center project involved various challenges. The sheer size of the project was impressive: the building is 365 m long, 52 m wide and 30 m tall. It is also located in the vicinity of the airfield. We also had the task of erecting four bridges around 45 m long, 12 m high and 16 m wide, starting at a height of 18 m (lower edge of the bridge + 18.00 m). An additional challenge was to weatherproof the timber structure for around three months.

The project was realised using CLT boards. These were preassembled in Austria. How did you proceed once the preassembled Wetguard elements from Austria arrived in Luxembourg?

The preassembled CLT boards were unloaded by forklift and then prepared on the ground. We removed the transport foil, turned the boards over (with the visible side down) and removed any transport damages. We then installed the boards using a tower crane.

Did any problems or questions occur during installation? How did you overcome them?

Yes, there were a couple of challenges. Damp surfaces were a particular problem because damp surfaces cannot be glued. We had to dry the areas affected (10 cm strips) with a cloth before we could apply Wetguard to glue the screws into place. The surface of the roof was glued entirely on site, as preassembling the membrane in the factory would not have made sense.

Your task in this project was to assemble the shell from a timber construction with around 60,000 m² of CLT boards. Which role did your collaboration with SIGA play in this process?

SIGA supported us tremendously during this project by providing us with Wetguard elements at customised widths. This made our work considerably easier.

Sounds like very efficient support. Which aspect of your collaboration with SIGA did you particularly appreciate?

What we really liked about working with SIGA was how quick they responded to our questions or problems. When we needed support, they worked on finding an answer or a solution without wasting any time.

What made you opt for SIGA Wetguard in particular?

We decided for SIGA Wetguard because we had been working with SIGA for a long time and were familiar with their products. Wetguard had proven diffusible, translucent and non-slip, which was key for our project.

To whom would you recommend the SIGA Wetguard product?

I would recommend it to anybody who needs a reliable emergency without any dismantling.

Many thanks for your insights.