The Cradle: Sustainable office building
in Düsseldorf
The Cradle is the first timber hybrid office building in Düsseldorf. Its wood-concrete construction is realised with a holistic sustainability concept through a striking, diamond-shaped facade of glass and wood, which gives the building its unique appearance. The three basement floors and the ground floor will be made of concrete, five full storeys and a staggered storey of wood. This will create a total of 5,200 m² of office space and 600 m² of space for gastronomy. The name “The Cradle” is inspired by the Cradle to Cradle principle, according to which the building is constructed. This ensures that as far as possible all components remain in the biological or technical cycle. This means, among other things, that dismantling and the possibilities for further use or re-use are already planned before assembly. This special building already won several awards during the construction phase.
The Cradle
at a glance
Deconstructable wooden structures
from DERIX
The special look of the building facade is created by trusses made of glulam (larch) in combination with glass. The trusses are aligned in their shape and size so that they additionally serve as sun protection. The internal supports and beams are partly made of purchased construction beech and partly of glulam (spruce). X-LAM (spruce) is used for the ceiling structures. There are no glued connections, only screw and plug-in connections, which allow easy dismantling.
Building project | The Cradle, Speditionsstraße 2, 40221 Düsseldorf, www.the-cradle.de |
---|---|
Construction | Wood hybrid |
Completion | planned 2022 |
Usable space brutto | approx. 10,400 m2 |
Volume of the wooden components | approx. 2,200 m3 |
Stored CO2 | 1,677 tCO2 |
Avoided CO2 | 1,551 tCO2 |
Regrowth speed in german forests | 66 minutes |
Building owner | Projektentwicklungsgesellschaft Speditionstraße mbH& Co. KG c/o INTERBODEN Innovative Gewerbewelten GmbH & Co. KG, www.interboden.de |
Statics | SJB Ingenieure (CH) |
3-D model | Design To Production (CH) |
Architects | HPP Architekten GmbH, D-Düsseldorf, www.hpp.com |
Manufacture, delivery and assembly of the wooden elements | DERIX-Group |
Prizes & Awards
for The Cradle
Heinze
ArchitektenAWARD 2020
In 2020, The Cradle was a prize winner at the Heinze ArchitektenAWARD.
Iconic
Awards 2018
The Cradle building won the 2018 Iconic Awards in the Innovative Architecture category.
MIPIM/AR
Future Project Awards 2018
The Cradle was the winner at the MIPIM/The Architectural Review Future Project Awards in 2018.
The advantages of wood
in The Cradle
The building facade of The Cradle is made almost entirely of solid wood elements. The use of wood as a building material thus minimises the use of conventional materials such as plastic and concrete. The Cradle to Cradle principle was consistently applied in the design of the building. Its deconstructability and the resulting possibilities for reuse make the office building a circular and sustainable property. The solid wood interior supports also ensure healthy indoor air in the office and thus a pleasant working atmosphere.
Downloads
for reference

Holzkurier: Gold certification level achieved
16 December 2021

Holz-Zentralblatt: Timber construction presence among urban and project developers
October 2021 • Armin Seidel

Digital total? Yes and No
February 2022 • Be. K.
Further
topics
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