H7 Münster, Germany

The highest timber hybrid building in North Rhine-Westphalia is located in the south side of the city harbor of Münster. The commercial and office 7-storey height building, providing space for the SuperBioMarkt AG headquarters has been built at a time when the building code in North Rhine-Westphalia limited the construction of timber buildings to a maximum of three storeys. The so called H7 for its 7-storey height and timber hybrid structure (H-Holz in German) has been designed with this hybrid structure to meet all the requirements for acoustics, fire safety and structures, still saving 626 tons of carbon dioxide. The underground car park and ground floor as well as the core of the H7 are constructed in conventional reinforced concrete. Additionally, a concrete “spine” features the main service distribution along the length of the building. On all other floors, timber-concrete-composite floors are used. The columns along the façade are instead designed in Glulam. Within a multidisciplinary team, the acoustic design supported the achievement of planning permissions as well as the development of construction details suitable for the fire and structure requirements. Commissioning acoustics tests were also undertaken to establish the achievement of vibration, airborne and impact sound insulation requirements.