Fully concealed high security

High-security windows, doors and façades that protect human life and property value are increasingly in demand, be that in police or embassy buildings, airports or chemical plants. As a highly specialised company, a core competency of Sälzer is the ability to implement the highest requirements in security almost invisibly. Green-coloured shimmering, centimetre-thick bulletproof panes of glass are a thing of the past, because the security units of today are barely noticeable. This also applies for the new Centre of Excellence. The majority of the glazing boasts special safety features. The building envelope itself has become an external “showroom” for the company’s high-security technology.

Spanning some 430 square metres, the new Centre of Excellence at Sälzer is certainly an impressive size. Nevertheless, the new building stands quite inconspicuously amidst a few adjacent commercial buildings, which are located on the edge of a small residential area southwest of Marburg. Sälzer is not exploring unknown terrain here. The elongated hall to the east houses the Sälzer production plant, while another building is home to the administration centre, ballistics test centre and showrooms.

The company tr.architekten partnerschaft mbB based in Bad Oeynhausen, who were commissioned to plan the Centre of Excellence, designed a single-storey building in the shape of a pentagon, with compact exterior walls that are enclosed in a surrounding fascia. Behind this, a green roof rises discreetly towards the centre of the building. Set slightly higher, a rectangular toplight shapes the upper section. The small number of openings appear to be cut out from solid material. The bronze-coloured, anodised aluminium panels of the rear-ventilated façade are interrupted with large-scale glazing and a wide black sectional door. The architecture is pleasantly subtle and, at first glance, there is little evidence of Sälzer itself. This is exactly the motto at Sälzer: it is a highly secure building without this fact being obvious from the outside.

Unique test laboratory

Taking advantage of the slightly sloping ground at the site, the architects were able to create two levels in the single-storey Centre of Excellence. The testing rooms are situated at the corners on the west and south sides of the building. Inside the building, these are adjacent to the public area that is set on slightly higher ground. This area comprises a foyer, showroom, training area and conference room all in one. From here, you can look directly into the test rooms that are slightly below through large safety glazing. Standing in this slightly elevated position gives the feeling of always having an overview of everything. This transparency offers something spectacular for the visitors. For example, there are mechanical tests to simulate break-ins, break-outs and vandalism scenarios, as well as a pressure chamber testing laboratory, which is a unique highlight. Highly compressed air held in two pressure tanks that are coupled with one another can be used to simulate pressure loads, such as those which may occur in a chemical explosion within the petrochemical industry. This type of testing would usually take place outdoors. However, the new Centre of Excellence is in all likelihood the first facility of its kind in Europe, because this happens within an enclosed building.

That said, this area is not completely enclosed. During a pressure test, the room is opened up to the outside using a sliding window, meaning the excess pressure in the room can escape quickly via pressure relief vents that are integrated into the façade. If not before, it now becomes obvious to visitors that the inconspicuous “display window” through which they can observe a pressure test is clearly not just standard glazing. The architects handed over the planning and execution for this particular feature to Sälzer directly. Special safety glazing with an additional sacrificial pane made from acrylic ensures that visitors have maximum safety in the foyer during a pressure test and hardly feel the pressure wave.

The release of this pressure wave, which spreads explosively throughout the room, has a time delay. The building itself must therefore also be sufficiently stable in its design, so that it can withstand a pressure wave. The integration of the pressure chamber test laboratory inside the building also called for special demands for the structural properties, which could not be accommodated with conventional reinforcement mats. The cross-sections of the available reinforcement mats were far from sufficient. The walls, floor and roof are made entirely from reinforced concrete and have been strengthened with bonded mats produced on site, constructed from individually assembled steel rods. Steel rods with diameters of up to 18 millimetres were used for this. With reinforced concrete exterior walls that measure as thick as 30 centimetres in places, the new Centre of Excellence might well be classified as a bunker, at least in terms of its structural properties.

Security requirements for individual needs

In fact, none of the glazing included in the building envelope corresponds to usual designs. Even where conventional glazing could have been used in the test rooms behind, Sälzer took the opportunity to demonstrate its “invisible expertise in high security.” This is particularly impressive on the south side of the building. Five glass panels, which could not be more different in terms of their technical design, are seamlessly combined to form a large, uniform glass front. Measuring just under 12 metres in length, the building demonstrates how highly diverse security requirements can be perfectly incorporated into a façade. Five different types of protection have been installed indistinguishably side-by-side at the Centre of Excellence, from simple glazing with no specialist security to glazing with security class FB4-NS / RC4. The first security class is defined as bullet-resistant and non-splintering, while RC4 offers increased resistance against experienced perpetrators, who may attempt to break into the building using heavy equipment like cordless drills, firearms or even explosives.

The new Centre of Excellence comprises a showroom, a training centre and a test centre in a single building, allowing customers to see the effectiveness of the high-security systems for themselves in live tests. This provides a great deal of added value for the company but, more especially, for its customers. All in one place, you can now see how Sälzer systems meet the highest security requirements and can simultaneously deliver individual designs.

Sälzer – High-security solutions. Constructed to protect

Sälzer is based in Marburg and has been part of the Schüco Group since 2018. The range of products is comprised of high-security windows, doors and façades. This includes everything from burglar resistance and access control to protection against bullets, explosions, fire and smoke. Sälzer is unique in the market thanks to extensive knowledge stemming from more than five decades of development, production and installation of security technology, combined with a broad range of products and systems that are graded according to threat intensity. With this in mind, the company is creating effective and attractive concepts for building protection for its customers worldwide. For more information, visit www.saelzer-security.com