Carl Stahl’s stainless steel nets and cables, X-TEND and I-SYS (developed by engineers from Suessen), have been used as frameworks for foliage. The I-SYS range enables the planning and assembly of creeper supports. Depending on the type of plant, façade construction and area, the system gives rise to unique constructions with cables and mounts made of stainless steel.
For example, at the Esch-Fonds office complex in Cologne-Ossendorf, roof ties for servicing and installations connect the main buildings. The framework for the foliage stretches over the five storeys of natural stone façades of the connecting structures. Individual four-metre cables with a diameter of four millimetres provide the framework for the creepers over the whole extent of the façade. The cables stretch between the wall mounts of the I-SYS system, which consists of the base plate, wall mount and adjusting screw. The architect for the Esch-Fonds office complex is KSP Engel und Zimmermann GmbH, Cologne. – The stainless steel cable net X-TEND, developed by Carl Stahl and Officium, can withstand high loads and extensive strain. It allows you to design individual areas of foliage, is flexible to assemble and has a stable design. For example in the façade design of the Munich offices of Swiss Re, X-TEND stretches along the exterior galleries that surround the complex. Three strips of the stainless steel net, on top of each other, are anchored via a framework on the supporting structure of the galleries and can be adjusted. 16-millimetre creeper cables connect the net fields with the plants. Thanks to specially developed spring housing, any possible tension strain of the cables is balanced out and the foliage construction protected from damage. The Swiss Re Germany AG building was designed by BRT Architekten, Hamburg. Supporting structure planning including hedge steel construction was carried out by Büro Dr.-Ing. W. Binnewies, Hamburg. Specialist X-TEND planning was carried out by Officium Design Engineering, Stuttgart.
