Hufelandstraße Student Residence

Germany , Hannover

Additional storey creates more living space for students

Modular interior construction in Hanover's Hufelandstraße with industrially prefabricated sanitary walls from TECEsystem

Affordable housing is in short supply in many large cities. The student residence in Hanover's Hufelandstraße is therefore a showcase project. This is because the Hanover Student Union decided to add a storey to the flat roof using a lightweight modular timber construction method and to use industrially prefabricated sanitary walls from TECEsystem for the interior fittings. Thanks to the sanitary walls, which were used as partition walls between two flats, new living space for 50 people will be created by March 2023. The extension took place in a partially occupied state, only the top of the three floors was not occupied for the duration of the construction work.

Forward-looking solution

Vertical redensification, i.e. adding storeys to existing buildings, is considered a forward-looking solution. "The modular construction method is ideal for this: It saves costs and time. Because what is prefabricated can be built quickly and in a short time," explains Stefan Lohse, project manager from the Construction and Technology Department at the Studentenwerk Hannover. There were already 164 flats and one three-room flat in the student residence in two building levels. The extension brings 46 new one-bedroom flats and two two-bedroom flats. The extension was planned as a lightweight timber construction made of prefabricated wall and ceiling elements. The choice for the interior fittings fell on the recommendation of the specialist planner Uwe Klossner (M+P Ingenieurbüro) on the industrially prefabricated sanitary walls from TECEsystem. "These registers lend themselves perfectly to repetitive floor plans. For the craftsmen on site, their use makes extreme sense," explains architect Berit Bessell from the executing office Vorrink Wagner Architekten GmbH. "TECEsystem had already proven itself and was also recommended by the specialist planner," explains Lohse.

Visual bridge to existing buildings

With a half-year offset, the two flat roofs each received a new gable roof. The ceilings were opened upwards along the pipes to connect the supply and disposal lines. Transverse and longitudinal beams were placed on the flat roof, and the distribution lines were accommodated in the space between them and the new floor. Then the walls were put up, followed by the industrially prefabricated sanitary walls. This task was carried out by specialist tradesman Christian Voss (Voss Gebäudetechnik) and his team. In this way, 24 new flats were created in each of two building complexes, 23 single and one double flat. The sanitary partition walls are designed as shafts with the connections for the bathroom on one side and the kitchen connections for the neighbouring flat on the back. A total of 28 industrially prefabricated sanitary partitions from TECEsystem were installed in each building block.

Modular design saves time and personnel

"If you are building a certain number of flats, serial prefabrication and modular construction simply lend themselves to this.

They bring enormous time advantages in the assembly and reduce the plumber's effort, as he does not have to build the sanitary walls on site himself," explains the expert planner Uwe Klossner. "We were on site with a maximum of six men," explains Voss. "In conventional construction, I would have needed significantly more staff."

Fire protection systematically fulfilled

In addition, the fire protection requirements are quasi-systematically fulfilled with TECEsystem. For the Hufelandstraße extension, the choice fell on the installation shaft solution in conjunction with machine-applied blow-in insulation made of flocked mineral wool. The coordinated system components and the shaft layouts of the installation walls planned by TECE in advance ensure maximum processing safety, which also enables the specialist tradesman to carry out the work in accordance with building regulations until acceptance without defects. With a view to future renovations and extensions, specialist planner Klossner says: "Industrial prefabrication? More and more often a good option."