Wilhelm
A forest visitor centre
At Ruhestein, a 915-metre-high pass in the Northern Black Forest National Park, a new 3,000 m2 visitor centre is being built.
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At Ruhestein, a 915-metre-high pass in the Northern Black Forest National Park, a new 3,000 m2 visitor centre is being built. The design for the new building complex was inspired by the lattice-like piles of deadwood that are often found on the forest floor. The various building blocks appear to have been stacked arbitrarily and the wooden shingles covering the exterior ensure that the building harmoniously blends into the surrounding forest. One of the design highlights is an open skywalk with platform providing visitors with breath-taking views. Scaffolding services provider Gerüstbau Wilhelm is supporting the entire construction project, ensuring that the necessary scaffolding for each of the construction phases is in place.
“What the construction team needs most is flexibility,” said Patrick Wilhelm, who has been a company director of the Filderstadt-based family business alongside his brother Matthias and his father Reinhard since 2017. “The special geographic location and statics here at Ruhestein pass meant it was virtually impossible to plan the scaffolding requirements in detail,” said the expert. “We brought along approximately 15,000 m2 of Layher Allround Scaffolding material, and the scaffoldings changed and evolved as the building work progressed.”
Building in harmony with nature
The special design of the building exterior, which is covered with wooden shingles, meant that the entire structure needed a free-standing scaffolding without anchorage erected around it, which posed quite a challenge for many reasons – not just the hillside location. The architects’ idea of leaving as many trees in place as possible also complicated matters somewhat. “A number of trees were only 20 cm away from the building exterior, and we weren’t allowed to cut away any branches, so we had to build the scaffolding around some of them. It wouldn’t have been possible without the comprehensive range of standard Layher Allround Scaffolding parts,” said Wilhelm. “Ensuring that all the construction requirements are met was a real mental challenge for our scaffolding experts.”
Reliability and ergonomics
The Layher Allround Scaffolding provides the carpenters affixing the wooden shingles to the exterior of the visitor centre with a safer work environment and optimum access ergonomics. The scaffolding nodes in a 50 cm grid arrangement makes the quick and easy attachment of brackets possible so that the work platforms can be positioned at the right height for efficient working. The use of lattice beams create a safer superstructure over the flat roofs without impairing the progress of insulation and sealing work. Ergonomics are also an important aspect of scaffolding material logistics and storage at Wilhelm. Back in the 1970s the company began to palletise its material with the assistance of Layher products, and since then it has continuously optimised its storage and logistics operations.
We’ve always used Layher products
Gerüstbau Wilhelm was established as a plastering business in 1934. Even in those days they used Layher wooden ladder scaffolding. Over the generations the company accumulated more and more scaffolding material – all of it made by Layher in Eibensbach. In 1993 they decided to focus exclusively on scaffolding and, since then, they have evolved into one of the most well-known scaffolding services companies in the Stuttgart region. Reinhard Wilhelm is a restoration specialist who is particularly interested in regional church restoration projects. “It’s difficult to forecast exactly how long a church restoration project will take, so the churches generally buy the scaffolding material themselves and we just erect it. The consistent use of Layher scaffolding products ensures we can always work quickly and effectively,” said the senior director. Two-thirds of the projects are for customers in regional industries such as automobile manufacturing and tool making. “We provide a service portfolio that is tailored to our customers’ requirements. The Layher products are extremely flexible, which means that we have the perfect solution for any challenge, however big or small, simple or complex. That’s why we’ve been so successful for so many years,” agreed the three directors.
