Glass Rock on the Loreley Plateau

The Loreley Rock is a 132-metre-high slate wall at the narrowest, deepest point of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. Designs by ‘Werkteam Loreley’, under the direction of architectural firm baukonsult-knabe, envisaged a striking glass and steel structure with irregular faceted geometry crowning the rock and functioning as a free-standing exhibition building providing access to the concealed interior space below.

Scope of Work

Workshop planning, fabrication and installation of the spatial steel supporting structure and perfectly coordinated glass envelope.

Steel structure

• Cubic volume L 15.7 m x W 12.4 m x H 8.45
• Laser-welded primary and secondary beams in steel construction, all meeting each other at different angles and inclinations
• 11 milled free-form nodes (solid steel), each with individual geometry, the largest weighing 330 kg and with a max. format of L 700 x W 500 mm (circumscribed rectangle)
• 59 nodes
• Structure completely pre-assembled at Frener & Reifer factory in Brixen and dismantled into transportable component groups before being taken to the construction site.
• A total of approx. 18.5 tonnes of steel were used in the construction.

Glazing

• 102 triangular glass panes, each with its own unique geometry
• The largest single glass pane is 8 m², has an edge length of 5 m and weighs 650 kg.
• Fixed in place using glass holders (toggles) in the glazing air gap. 1,900 toggle holders in 56 different formats were used for the installation.
• The glass panes feature a dot grid for highly effective protection against bird strikes

Innovations / Challenges

• Innovation: Development of a custom technical solution, making it possible for the first time to dispense with the emergency supports otherwise required in Germany for projecting overhead glazing – and meet the customer's architectural requirements.
• Precision design: Fulfilment of the structural, manufacturing and building physics requirements, necessitating the development of a construction design that considered the different tolerances of the various nodes.
• Highly complex steel construction, in particular the manoeuvring of the heavy steel parts during installation and their millimetre-precise calibration.
• Complex drainage and creation of the sealing level.

‘The Glass Rock on the Loreley combines South Tyrolean craftsmanship and engineering expertise from Brixen with our cultural landscape in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. The globally active company Frener & Reifer is helping the internationally renowned Loreley brand to further enhance its reputation in tourism with the stylised Glass Rock, clearly demonstrating that tradition and modern architecture are not mutually exclusive.’

Mike Weiland, Mayor of the Loreley Association of Municipalities