In the historic city of Aachen, Germany, an architect turned developer set out to transform a neglected and underutilised courtyard into a year round destination.

The unusual geometry of the building and inner courtyard did not lend itself to a typical modular or regularized roof solution.

The architectural scheme called for a solution that was as lightweight as possible, with maximum light transmission and excellent thermal characteristics.

Fire considerations were also taken into account. The Texlon system was selected as it met all of the above criteria and offered superior fire characteristics.

The structural scheme that was developed is a complex series of cables, rod bracing and slender, small diameter arched steel tubes. This gives an extremely lightweight structure that enhances the feeling of a transparent roof system.

One of the major advantages of the Texlon ETFE roofing system is that it can accommodate a much larger range of structural movement than conventional cladding systems. This feature was used to reduce the overall structural weight by decreasing the stiffness required of the support system.