Magdeburg, Niemcy
Magdeburg Silo — precast balconies and columns
A former grain silo in Magdeburg being converted into a residential building. The nine-storey brick body was retained, while the internal structural layout and the entrance zone were built anew in precast concrete. Our scope covered balcony slabs and structural columns, delivered with the connectors and anchors cast in ready for fixing to the existing wall.
Adding to a building that has stood for a hundred years follows a different logic from building from scratch. In a new structure every dimension is a design dimension: a unit has to meet something that does not yet exist, so both sides of the joint are governed by the same drawings. In a conversion one side is found — the masonry has whatever geometry it has, with construction tolerances from a century ago and with whatever decades of settlement have done to it.
- Year of completion:
- 2024
- Use:
- Multi-family buildings
- Location:
- Magdeburg, Niemcy
Scope of work
That is why fixing units to an existing structure begins with a survey rather than with production. The actual line of the wall has to be measured and the anchors designed with an adjustment allowance able to absorb the difference. Precast gives an advantage here that is not obvious at first sight: because the unit itself is made accurately, the whole tolerance can be spent on the unevenness of the masonry instead of being used up by inaccuracy in the new part.
There is a structural dimension too. The brick body carries the loads it was designed for as a silo, and every kilogram hung on it from outside counts twice. A balcony delivered as a finished slab with the fall built in and the surface finished needs no formwork, no propping and no wet connections at height — so it loads the structure with nothing but itself.
Scope of work: precast concrete balcony slabs, structural columns, international transport and erection on site.
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