DETAILS PROJECT
Securely Future-Proof: Swiss Life’s “Karriere Campus” Features Sustainable WICONA Façades
At the company site of Swiss Life in Hannover-Lahe, the new seminar and conference centre “Karriere Campus” has been completed. Designed by HPP Architects (Hamburg) and certified with the DGNB Gold Standard, the new building is characterised by a distinctive building envelope – realised in part with window and façade systems from WICONA, made using the sustainable aluminium alloy Hydro CIRCAL 75R.
As one of the leading providers of financial and pension solutions, Swiss Life Germany offers private and corporate clients flexible insurance products and services for financial security and retirement planning. Core competencies include income protection, occupational pensions, and modern guarantee models. In response to steady growth and increasing demand for personalised financial advice, Swiss Life decided in 2018 to construct a modern, sustainable, and flexible seminar and conference centre at its existing campus in Hanover. The new facility would primarily serve the training and development of employees and financial advisors working with Swiss Life.
HPP Architects designed a four-storey new building with a gross floor area of 7,300 m², connected to the existing campus via a single-storey annex. The complex includes office space, over 30 training and conference rooms, a company kindergarten, and a two-storey event hall with a capacity of around 650 people – offering ideal conditions for modern, networked, and flexible work and learning environments.
A Distinctive Façade Design
Architecturally, the new building reflects the slanted cubature of the adjacent listed main building from the 1970s. The façade design also references the original structure but reinterprets it with suspended vertical metal elements and two inward-sloping horizontal bands.
The two lower floors were constructed by the experts from Metallbau Windeck (Kloster Lehnin) using the WICTEC 50 stick system, which offers slim sightlines of just 50 mm both inside and out, excellent thermal insulation, airtightness, and soundproofing. For the operable and fixed glazing units on the upper floors, the WICLINE 75 MAX window system was used. WICONA project consultant Jörg Krosse explains: “Thanks to the concealed window sashes, there is no visible difference between operable and fixed fields from the outside – this, combined with the slender profile sightlines, creates a visually coherent look. Concealed handles, hinges, and fittings also ensure a clean and unified appearance on the inside.”
Sustainable Façade Systems Made from Recycled End-of-Life Aluminium
All aluminium systems used in the project were produced from Hydro CIRCAL 75R – a sustainable alloy composed of at least 75% recycled end-of-life aluminium, meaning scrap aluminium that has already been used in previous products and completed its life cycle. With a carbon footprint of just 1.9 kg CO₂ per kg of aluminium, Hydro CIRCAL 75R played a key role in significantly reducing the environmental impact of the “Karriere Campus”.
