ALPHATON® panels are a type of rear-ventilated clay tile with rainscreen coating, invented by the German MOEDING, a company dedicated to ceramic facade systems. These tiles, which can be aligned vertically or horizontally on the facade, are highly customizable but designed on principles of extreme simplicity to facilitate installation and reduce costs for builders.
The ALPHATON® tile was used in this new building for the Business Development Center for Medical Technology of Mannheim, the CubexOne. This is an 8,000 m2 building with flexible interiors that adapt to changing working requirements, plus five laboratories, service rooms, and workshops. Its entire facade is clad in tilted white, glazed ALPHATON® bricks, fabricated in a special format and layered in shingles, which were chosen to be custom manufactured for the cube.
The bright panels of the cube take on the materials and appearance of the neighboring historic buildings, which subtly reflect on the surface of the facade.
The shingles are interrupted by freely arranged openings in varying formats. In its interior, it costs the business development center for medical technology that connects to the university with a curved staircase on the side.
The ceramic shingles for the facade were developed specifically for the project. With the light glaze, they create different plays of light on the facade. The building is located in the line of sight to the Mannheim University Hospital. A curved staircase made of exposed concrete connects the building with the university hospital in curve.
The ALPHATON® brick, introduced to the market by MOEDING in 2001, is a rectangular tile meant for uniform facade coverage.
The facade system offers:
- long-lasting materials
- natural resources
- efficient production
- economical development through fast and efficient installation
- high individuality due to large design option potential
- energy efficient
- low maintenance
The extruded ALPHATON® brick slabs are made from predominantly native clays and are fully colored. Due to the very high firing temperatures and the long firing time, intensive colors and the best strength values are achieved. The brick slabs are double-shelled and 30 mm thick. The breaking loads of ALPHATON® panels are many times higher than those of single-skin panels. The tiles are resistant to weather stressors and their structure can be adapted for diverse climates, to facilitate ventilation or insulation as needed.
| Architects | sander.hofrichter architekten |
| Design team | Tobias Bushbeck Architektur, MTTR-Architects+City Planners |
| Year | 2021 |
| Photographs | Anke Müllerklein |
| Manufacturers | MOEDING |
| Products used in this project | ALPHATON® |
| Location | Mannheim, Germany |
