Living Campus Leoben

PORR Design & Engineering GmbH (PDE) was on board the project from the very beginning and was able to significantly optimise the planning with its expertise. The structural engineering and construction management teams were the key factors in being able to construct the building in this form using precast and brick construction methods and semi-precast concrete elements. This early and close collaboration enabled the use of prefabricated parts to be maximised and the time-consuming in-situ concrete construction method to be minimised.

In order to achieve the highest international building certificates required by the client, intensive and comprehensive planning was necessary. This ranged from energy and resource efficiency to the origin of the building products, auxiliary and installation materials used, indoor air quality, safety, comfort and cosiness and finally the building's suitability for conversion and third-party use. The result of these efforts is a DGNB certificate in gold, which was presented during the opening ceremony.

The floor slabs consist of loosely reinforced semi-precast concrete elements, which were supported on the load-bearing external walls and internal reinforced concrete columns with in-situ concrete reinforcement in the slab thickness in the punching shear area. The reinforced concrete supports were integrated into the drywalls in the final construction and thus made invisible. This design variant had a consistently positive effect on both the runtime and ultimately the costs.

To ensure that this high proportion of prefabricated elements could be processed on the construction site without any problems, PORR had to be involved in the planning at an early stage in order to adapt the shape and structure of the building to the requirements of this construction method. In addition, the site manager had to coordinate the planning, approval, delivery and installation of the concrete construction elements.

The building is around 115 metres long at its greatest extent. To compensate for this length, three building expansion joints were installed in the shell, dividing the entire building into four construction sections. Both the construction schedule and the construction site equipment, and thus practically the entire construction process, were organised according to these sections. The master builder work was completed first in the west section, then continued from the south section via the centre section to the north section. This sequence was followed for all other trades and the north section was completed as the last construction phase. Thanks to this well thought-out construction site organisation, only one fast-erecting crane with a rail-mounted trolley was required during the entire construction work, despite the large dimensions of the building.

The fact that the concept of sustainability is also of great importance in the construction industry became clear once again in this project. With the support of PDE's sustainability department from the start of the project to the handover of the property, a high degree of resource and energy efficiency, cosiness and comfort for the building's users as well as cost-effectiveness were guaranteed throughout the entire life cycle. As the general contractor, PORR had to pay particular attention to technical quality and process quality during realisation. Particularly when working with subcontractors, the use of suitable materials and products had to be emphasised and the materials and products ultimately used had to be precisely checked and approved. To facilitate this effort, PORR was able to count on the support of PDE throughout the entire duration of the project. It acted as a consultant during project development, planning and the entire project process. PDE also prepared a life cycle assessment of the construction and utilisation phase and carried out all the building physics investigations, tests and measurements required by the ÖGNI for certification. These included daylight simulation, pollutant measurements and an on-site blower door test. All of these points had to be planned technically and in terms of time during the construction of the building.

Achieving the DGNB Gold certificate not only required bright minds in the planning phase, but the sustainable construction of the building was also taken into account throughout the entire construction process. Hand in hand with the planning office, all the professionals involved in the construction and with the additional consultation of one or two experts, this vision was achieved with only minor hurdles. All PORR employees involved can look back on an exciting and ultimately successful project realisation.