Leica Camera – viessmann

Leica Camera AG Wetzlar

The design idiom of the Leica headquarters in Wetzlar is captivatingly unique. It is reminiscent of lenses, lenses and rangefinders. AHI-Carrier completes the complex with a sophisticated innovative energy system.

Leica Camera Wetzlar headquarters building. Photo: © Holger Turm, Sandra Luke

Brief description of the design

The Leica brand enjoys an excellent reputation among photography enthusiasts. The products of this well-established company are characterised by quality, precision and perfection down to the smallest detail. Founded more than 100 years ago in Wetzlar, the company moved its production to the nearby town of Solms in the mid-1980s. After the economic downturn at the beginning of the new millennium, the company changed its fate and returned to its roots in Wetzlar, the "city of optics", with the construction of a new head office and production facilities. In 2007, world-renowned architectural offices were invited to participate in an idea competition. The winner was a project by the Frankfurt-based architectural firm Gruber + Kleine-Kraneburg Architekten. The task was to develop a campus design consisting of several company buildings. At the heart of the ensemble was to be the new headquarters of Leica Camera AG with adjacent production, design, assembly and laboratory facilities. The innovative complex was intended to reflect the new confidence of the Leica brand as well as the company's traditional values, and to enable visitors and customers from all over the world to gain insight into the company.

At first glance, the design idiom of the new building is reminiscent of lenses, lenses, and rangefinders. This is no coincidence: the architects deliberately chose shapes reminiscent of the brand's legendary lenses. From design to implementation, it was also important for the customer that the architecture of the new headquarters reflected the values of the traditional company, namely quality, excellence and precision. In every aspect, the convex-concave curved structure of the building is just as precisely conceived, planned and ultimately executed to the smallest detail as one of the company's handcrafted masterpieces.

Innovative energy system from AHI-Carrier for efficient heating, electricity and cooling

While the production of precision mechanical and optical components focuses on the highest precision, the modern production and administration building is carefully optimized in terms of efficiency: the entire complex is supplied with heat, electricity and cooling by a modern AHI-Carrier energy system.

Vitobloc 200 © combined heat and power plants Photo: Holger Turm, Sandra Luke

Two Vitobloc 200 combined heat and power plants with a capacity of 238 kWel/363 kWh and 140 kWel/207 kWh were installed to generate electricity for use in production and administrative units. The thermal energy generated in the process covers the heat demand in the buildings, as well as the operation of the absorption refrigeration unit. With the help of the latter, heat energy can also be used to generate cooling energy. The priority tasks in this process are the supply of cold water necessary for production, and the recovery of waste heat generated by CHP units. Waste heat that cannot be used at the moment is stored in a buffer tank for water heating and used later as needed.

In the event of a power grid failure, cogeneration plants temporarily take over all power supply, thereby ensuring continuity of production. The Vitocrossal 200 gas condensing boiler with a capacity of 503 kW is switched on if the cogeneration plants cannot generate enough heat.

All components of the system are perfectly matched, which ensures particularly efficient and economical operation. In particular, cogeneration units are designed for the longest possible operation. The heat generated in this process is continuously used to heat the building. Integrated condensing technology provides a high overall efficiency of up to 95%, and compared to separate power and heat generation, cogeneration plants can save up to 30% of primary energy.

A large AHI-Carrier brine-water heat pump with a cooling capacity of 348 kW was installed to cool the production facilities. It receives the necessary energy from an array of 80 geothermal probes submerged 120 meters into the ground under the parking lot. Two air-cooled refrigeration units cover peak loads during periods of high refrigeration demand. When demand is high, a heat pump can also be used as a cooler in addition to an absorption refrigeration unit. The cold water obtained in this way is additionally stored in an open sprinkler tank for cooling the production facilities.

The heating and cooling energy is distributed over a large area through ceilings, walls and floors. The inert accumulating mass of reinforced concrete is used to activate the concrete components. AHI-Carrier manufactures large heat pumps with a total capacity of up to 2000 kW, which are specially adapted to the requirements of commercial and industrial enterprises.

Intelligent system management for extra efficiency

The intelligent AHI-Carrier MMM 300 system control unit ensures that the most efficient combination of heat generators and refrigeration units is used at all times. The perfect combination of all components makes the system particularly efficient and therefore economical to operate. Power consumption exceeds the requirements of EnEV 2009 by more than 54 percent. For this, the Leica headquarters was awarded the European Union's "Green Building" certificate. Share this page

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