14.01.2025

Bayreuth instead of Verona

Building design

Corona restrictions: Burkhardt-Löffler Managing Director Steffen

On October 2, Burkhardt-Löffler held its first joint in-house exhibition with Weha. According to Weha Managing Director Stefan Deschler, 85 participants had registered for the event. At the in-house exhibition, which was scheduled at short notice, they were able to see new machine developments in the flesh – as well as other innovations. With large machines from Burkhardt-Löffler from all application segments of stone processing […]

On October 2, Burkhardt-Löffler held its first joint in-house exhibition with Weha. According to Weha Managing Director Stefan Deschler, 85 participants had registered for the event. At the in-house exhibition, which was scheduled at short notice, they were able to see new machine developments in the flesh – as well as other innovations.

With large machines from Burkhardt-Löffler from all application segments of stone processing – all equipped with Weha tools – the open day perfectly demonstrated the synergies of the new partnership. In addition, Weha presented several small machines and transport equipment as well as transport vehicles from its product range. And finally, Akemi was the third partner to contribute to the success of the event with a demonstration of its product range.

In the October issue of STEIN 10/20, we reported that Burkhardt-Löffler had already explicitly invited smaller groups to machine demonstrations and factory tours at the company’s sites in Bayreuth and Langenaltheim. With the major event at the beginning of October, the machine manufacturer, together with its new partner Weha, has now provided an important additional impetus for boosting the capital goods business.

The Powerjet 3D waterjet system with the new head developed in-house was of particular interest – mainly because the machine could be experienced in action throughout the day. Software developer Benedikt Maiser also presented the company’s own calibration unit, which can be used to determine the perfect tool center point (TCP). The measuring device compensates for the wobble error of the C-axis and determines the exact distance to the focusing tube.

“We then know exactly how many millimetres we need to compensate in each direction – i.e. for the X, Y and Z axes,” explains Maiser. He uses this to set up the Powerjet 3D in the factory before delivery; the calibration unit is only needed again later if the machine is moved or the customer has had a crash.

In any case, customers appreciate the fact that they can come by with their materials before buying a machine and be shown exactly how to cut them. Maiser and his colleagues can then use the customer information and the material to make recommendations regarding the various machine parameters: from focusing tube and nozzle size and type to sand quantity and type to pump pressure.

Purchasing Manager Michael Hannweber adds with regard to the waterjet machine that the cutting head development is particularly impressive due to the hollow shaft gearbox. This means that the electrical system and high pressure can be fed directly into the 3D head, and there is no longer any need for a pipe spiral or slip ring rotary feed for the electrical signals.

Other visitor magnets were the BAZ 2000 machining center, which, according to Burkhardt-Löffler, has revolutionized the concept of the machining center with automatic suction cup positioning and loading, and the KSL 80 automatic table edging machine, where Weha presented its magnet mounting system, which has been tried and tested for more than 30 years and now has three magnets and is distinguished from competitor products by the fact that the VA buttons of the very quick-clicking triple lock are attached to the base plate instead of the tool.

Burkhardt-Löffler also exhibited the LDZ 2000 K, the compact rotary head saw in monoblock design developed jointly with partner Weha, which we had already presented in STEIN 10/2020. This compact machine can also be set up in companies with limited space. At the in-house exhibition, the machine was shown with the 400/60 UNIV-2 natural stone diamond cutting blade.

Weha also recommended its two new 400 mm Pro-Q and Weramic-yellow blades, which are especially suitable for quartzite and all types of ceramic. Visitors were not yet able to see the planned new KDL-B automatic band edger in action, but according to Stefan Deschler, there have already been many inquiries for it. Thanks to its many years of representing Comandulli machines, Weha has good contacts in the industry, especially with stone processors interested in a belt-driven edging machine.

Many visitors were also interested in the Pantograph 1215 engraving machine presented by GTech company owner Boris Malacko, and the Fuso Canter equipped with a Ferrari loader crane and the compact Roboman Junior crawler vehicle – also with a Ferrari crane – in the outdoor area were surrounded by interested parties throughout the day.

Exhibitor Akemi provided the icing on the cake of an exciting event. Application engineer Otello Piroddi and his colleagues showed, among other things, the new Akepur 250 High Tack for the safe and temperature-resistant bonding of a variety of substructure materials under ceramic, natural and artificial stone.

Another highlight from the construction chemicals manufacturer: the new color paste system, which is particularly suitable for smaller companies and very complex finishing work and, together with the Platinum adhesive, enables an almost inexhaustible variety of colors. The Spectrum Pastes case for up to 60 coloring pastes in 45 gram tubes can be purchased empty and loaded individually. Dry dedusting systems from Weha as well as the BSS 600 wire saw and the CSA 598 industrial band saw system from Burkhardt-Löffler rounded off the extensive in-house exhibition presentation.

25.12.2024

Project

Local rainwater management “Kirkebjerg”

Building design

In the approximately 10-hectare housing estate “Kirkebjerg” in Ballerup, Denmark, there have been repeated problems with flooding and damp cellars in the past. At the same time, the local waste disposal companies had an interest in relieving the local sewer system in order to reduce sewer overflows in the wider sewer network. This resulted in a project for local rainwater management and heavy rainfall prevention […]

In the approximately 10-hectare housing estate “Kirkebjerg” in Ballerup, Denmark, there have been repeated problems with flooding and damp cellars in the past. At the same time, the local waste disposal companies had an interest in relieving the local sewer system in order to reduce sewer overflows in the wider sewer network. This resulted in a project for local rainwater management and heavy rainfall prevention in the extensive lawns of the housing estate.

Where the local height and space conditions allowed, the downpipes were decoupled from the sewer system and the rainwater was directed into the open spaces for evaporation and infiltration. A large part of the project was financed via a repayment scheme for connection fees. For every square meter of sealed surface that discharges less into the sewage system, the landowner, the housing association “Brøndby Boligselskab”, received a grant from the waste disposal company “HOFOR” and was thus able to realize the project.

Together with a residents’ working group, gruppe F Landschaftsarchitekten from Berlin developed a design concept for the areas over the course of several workshops. Inspiration for this came from the image of water droplets on a smooth surface. The excess soil from the excavation of infiltration troughs was modeled into circular mounds of various sizes. In this way, no soil had to be removed and a simple green lawn landscape with small pools and mounds was created, which changes its appearance depending on the water level. Small “puddles of water” in a green lawn landscape turn into large blue “lakes” with round green islands during heavy rainfall.

Scattered throughout this landscape are small “oases” for the residents with simple play elements, planting and recreational areas.

The project was developed by gruppe F Landschaftsarchitekten together with the Danish office Gaihede a/s and has been gradually implemented on site by the Danish office since 2018.

You can find the article on the Kurt-Schumacher Quartier in Berlin in G+L 04/2019.

02.11.2024

Project

In slow motion

Building design

Work on the central station in the Dutch city of Arnhem has now been going on for 20 years. As a result, skaters have appropriated the space.

Work on the central station in the Dutch city of Arnhem has now been going on for 20 years. Despite ongoing construction work, the area has been appropriated by a user group that the planner considers unpredictable and often finds no space: skaters. A success for the responsible landscape architects from Bureau B+B. But where did it come from?

The design of Arnhem station is the result of more than two decades of collaboration between the architects UNStudio and the landscape architects from Bureau B+B. It presented the planners with various challenges. Topographically alone: the station is located on the slope of the Veluwe massif and the planners had to overcome a height difference of 20 meters. They achieved this by creating a subtle, constantly changing landscape. The folded, undulating natural stone surfaces largely trace the terrain below, linking visitor flows and ensuring a smooth transition between the different elevation levels.

Pictures: Frank Hanswijk

If you are not continuing your journey immediately, you can also make yourself comfortable on the wooden benches that emerge from the edges of the sloping natural stone surfaces in the quiet corners of the station grounds. You don’t have to buy anything, as there is no obligation to buy anything to sit down in the rooms outside the station. This is one of the reasons why the Arnhem station forecourt is so lively. And it is in turn an explanation for the fact that these local people tend to belong to those population groups that are otherwise often pushed out of public spaces – such as older people, young people, skaters or homeless people.

The Arnhem train station shows this: The less the purpose of a public space is defined, the more opportunities users have to implement their own ideas. This is of particular benefit to population groups that are often deliberately excluded when planning public spaces. The square design also benefited from the fact that it took around two decades to implement. This allowed the user groups, who tend to be marginalized, to appropriate the space in the long term.

Curious? You can find the full article on Arnhem station in the February 2019 issue of G+L.

Translated from the English by Sigrid Ehrmann