HI-MACS® offers creative freedom in public areas.

As part of the preparations for the 2014 Regional Garden Show, many urban and green areas in Schwäbisch Gmünd were restructured, linked, and upgraded. The pedestrian undercrossing at the Gmünd station was reconstructed and extended within the scope of these plans, creating an attractive and lively link between the areas to the south and north of the train tracks. The walls of the tunnel were designed using the weather and wear-resistant HI-MACS® material.

Schwäbisch Gmünd town authorities invited local designers and architects — including 4 student teams from the Hochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd mentored by Klaus Marek of preiswerk marek architekten architecture firm — to submit their ideas. The Swiss architects provided their support in the winning student project and assumed responsibility for the implementation of planning.

The new undercrossing connects the old southern section and the new northern section of the town of Schwäbisch Gmünd, as well as the new green areas.
The walls of the tunnel are covered with white HI-MACS® curved panels, while indirect lighting guides visitors coming to the town. The lighting flows from the main hallway to the access passages to platforms. The staircases are harmonically integrated in the design and accompany pedestrians to their destination with changing light displays. These displays are controlled via dynamic effect lighting.

The lighting concept refers to topics explored at the Regional Garden Show. In summer, the lights mirror fresh leaf movement with sun rays shining through, while red and brown shades of autumn colors appear between leaf movement during the autumn and winter seasons. At night, the tunnel glimmers a nightly blue.
The architect Klaus Marek was looking for a material which would allow him to implement the 3D shapes of the student design. The structure needed to be simple and strong, as large numbers of visitors are expected to attend the show. At the same time, the aim was to prevent damage by vandalism in the future. With the support of 5D Engineering from Dresden, who is responsible for the statics and engineering drawing, he opted for the solid surface material HI-MACS®. The HI-MACS® Solid Surface seemed to be the perfect solution: its non-porous, smooth finish consists of 70 percent natural stone powder, 25 percent high-quality acrylic resin, and 5 percent natural pigments. This composition makes it resistant to vandalism. The acrylic stone can also be thermoformed. These qualities allowed Marek to implement the organically uniform shapes of the panels with a high level of surface aesthetics.

"The only way to implement the design was by using a solid surface material. At the same time, the properties of the material comply with all rail-specific requirements in regard to wall coverings in pedestrian undercrossings. It is thermo-formable, completely homogeneous, and has a smooth finish; it is weather and impact resistant, easy to clean, and can be solidly and invisibly attached to the wall."
The 8-foot long HI-MACS® panels fabricated by Rosskopf + Partner AG are mounted on an agrafe using a stainless steel undercut anchor, hinged reversibly into an aluminum facade substructure. Open horizontal and vertical joints compensate temperature-related length changes and ensure the necessary level of wall ventilation. The plane aluminum plate substructure covers the concrete wall, while acting as a reflector for the effect lighting at the same time. The cavity behind the curved panel is used for mounting the lights.

"There is no other material which offers this creative freedom in combination with a high level of functionality in terms of durability and resistance to environmental impacts," says Marek about HI-MACS®.

Photography: Uwe Röder