Custom Construction

Forming the elliptical shape of the 22-storey rwe tower in dortmund - designed by local architect Gerber - called for an innovative construction solution. Main contractor Oevermann turned to formwork specialist Meva to find a quick and efficient construction method to build the concrete floor slabs for the 100 m tall office tower.

Meva worked closely with Oevermann to develop a formwork system for the unusually shaped building. The result involved use of MevaDec to form the main slab and a series of custom built panels for the slab edges, which were numbered to ensure they could be quickly placed in the right position on each floor.

Each of the panels used on the RWE Tower were fitted with an alkus plastic forming face which helped to speed stripping and avoid the need for replacement of the forming faces during the work. Oevermann's site team took two days to assemble the formwork for each 750 m2 floor and the team completed construction of each storey in a five day cycle.

The building was crowned with a double storey height top floor with parabolically shaped walls which Oevermann constructed using its own girder formwork. Meva supplied the contractor with STB 450 support frames and Triplex braces to allow the thin walls to be formed more than 80 m above ground without use of climbing formwork.