Industrial construction protects the climate
The sober practicality of metal constructions for industrial use is no longer inevitable. A different approach with rammed earth and timber for the new Weleda logistics centre has sent sustainability standards rocketing sky-high.
Its name was inspired by Germanic seeress Veleda and is a reference to the extrasensory element associated with anthroposophic medicine, which underlies the company’s products. Swiss-German natural cosmetics and anthroposophic medicine manufacturer Weleda was established in 1921 with support from Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf schools. Since then, what began as a niche company has developed into one of the European market leaders for certified natural cosmetics.
Expressed in figures: the company achieved sales of over 420 million euros in 2023. Out of almost 2,500 people employed in total by Weleda throughout the world, around 1,000 are located at their biggest site in Schwäbisch Gmünd, which is a picturesque small town in the east of Baden-Württemberg.
High-bay warehouse made of spruce wood
With the aim of increasing the efficiency and sustainability of logistics at its German headquarters, several years ago the company decided to move to a new site on the Gügling Nord industrial estate. In autumn 2024, the Weleda Cradle Campus – as it is now known – officially opened. Besides the administrative headquarters and a production building, the campus includes a fully automatic high-bay facility with space for 17,200 palettes.
As opposed to the customary steel structures familiar from online retail giant Amazon, the shelving here is made of wood, soaring up 30 metres high as far as the eye can see. Around 5,800 cubic metres of native wood, including spruce and silver fir, were used for the construction. This makes a huge difference, not just because of the intense smell emitted by such a density of wood, but the amount of emissions avoided is also significant.
Rammed earth wall from excavated soil
While the production of steel generates vast amounts of carbon pollution, timber sequesters carbon that was taken from the atmosphere while the trees were growing. Consequently, building with timber clearly has massive potential for decarbonizing industrial architecture. And as this logistics centre even has rammed earth walls, the ecological footprint of the building has been reduced to a minimum.
For the eight-metre-high loam walls, soil excavated from the building pit was mixed with a local aggregate. Numerous attempts were made to find the correct mixture. Loam construction has been in use around the whole world for thousands of years, but it was new territory for Ulm-based architectural studio Michelgroup. Also, this building method was untested on projects of this type and scale.
How do we transfer a technique that is otherwise more common in archaeological restorations or private residential construction over to a large-scale industrial construction site? All of this was uncharted territory and needed pioneering spirit.
Nico Santuario, architect
“We had a lot of questions at the beginning,” recalls architect Nico Santuario, who was responsible for the project with his colleague Tina Bauer. “Who can help us with the loam construction? How do we obtain the necessary material? And how do we transfer a technique that is otherwise more common in the context of archaeological restorations or used in private residential construction over to a large-scale industrial construction site? All of this was uncharted territory and needed pioneering spirit.”
Germany’s largest rammed earth building
As this was one of Europe’s biggest loam construction sites, there was naturally huge outside interest. In a collaborative effort, numerous volunteers from Germany and abroad played an active part and helped this pioneering project to succeed. According to Weleda, it is Germany’s largest continuous rammed earth building, measuring 82 x 38 metres.
Logistics buildings are usually associated with windowless metal boxes, while this one makes you look forward to working in it.
Tina Müller, CEO of Weleda
Loam is not just a prime example of a recyclable construction material, it also provides a natural balance between temperature and moisture. Even though space has been earmarked for a ventilation system just in case, the aim is to do without air conditioning and heating entirely. The company has taken up this challenge despite the strict regulations governing storage of medicines.
A place for people
The German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) rewarded this courageous project with Platinum pre-certification, the “Oscar” amongst sustainability certificates. And the logistics centre has won many other awards, not least because a place has been created for the people who work here, besides the goods themselves.
“Logistics buildings are usually associated with windowless metal boxes, while this one makes you look forward to working in it. I especially like the expanse of glazing with a view of the Swabian Mountains,” reveals Tina Müller, CEO of Weleda and one of Germany’s most successful managers.
Aside from the sustainable construction method used for the Weleda Cradle Campus, the building is also fully operated with renewable energy, i.e. geothermal technology and solar power. Müller is convinced that the investment costs of approx. 90 million euros will give good returns: “The logistics campus is a major investment for Weleda. Integrating high sustainability standards increased construction costs by about 20-30 percent compared with conventional logistics buildings. It is an investment that will be amortized over 20 years.”
This also shows that sustainability and growth can go hand in hand if planning is long-term and buildings are designed for the future.
Text: Gertraud Gerst
Translation: Rosemary Bridger-Lippe
Photos: Michelgroup/Marco Licht, Holzbau Amann, Kaufmann Bausysteme, ZRS Architekten Ingenieure, Elias Hassos
