A vision becomes reality
World records and superlatives were the result – but before the giant project, wrapping Bayer’s headquarters in Leverkusen into the world’s largest Aspirin® box, was completed on 6 March 1999, countless uncertainties had to be overcome. Admittedly, the mega box gave the Makom project team a few “headaches” before the happy ending. This is the story of a mega event we still look back on with pride.
The brief
Bayer AG was celebrating an anniversary: with a 22,500 m² wrap, the company wanted to create a special monument to the world’s most famous headache remedy on its 100th birthday, 6 March 1999.
The challenge
Within four months a solution had to be developed and produced – for an idea whose scale exceeded anything done before. The requirement not to touch the building fabric in any way made the task even harder, as did the many safety regulations. With 60 cm service shafts protruding all around the building, the fixing system had to compensate for the uneven façade and hold the wrap securely without direct wall contact. It also had to withstand wind and weather at 130 m, transfer horizontal and vertical suction forces and avoid pressure on the windows.
The concept
After intensive analysis, Makom’s chief engineer Raimund Apel and managing director Michael (MiKi) Lazar developed a unique supporting structure: the mega box was held by 48 air-filled tubes mounted on the façade lift rails and inflated by continuous blowers on the roof. A steel ring on the roof anchored tubes and tarpaulins, while straps and specially developed clamps on protruding T-profiles provided stability without a single drill hole. The fine mesh skin reduced wind load, and an air cushion between building and skin buffered the wind forces.
The realisation
A continuous steel ring projecting a good 80 cm beyond the roof edge was installed. The material was lowered down the wall piece by piece in custom-made bags, the strips were tensioned on the T-beams and zipped together flush. Finally, the support tubes were inflated via the blower control on the roof.
Just in time
To finish in time for the 100th birthday, up to 4 site managers, more than 30 climbers, 15 steel workers, 20 security and assembly assistants, 2 project managers and 12 helpers worked on site during the last ten days. Up to 22 people sewed around the clock in shifts, and the finished strips were mounted straight from the truck. The last panel arrived on Saturday morning at 6 a.m. – while the team battled storm warnings of up to force 11.
The record in numbers
- 22,500 m² of PVC mesh in 32 printed strips
- Each strip 675 m², approx. 250 kg, 120 m long
- 2,000 m² of digitally printed Aspirin® tablets, sewn on and welded
- Tablet enlargement factor: 187,000 % – from 2.3 cm to around 43 m
