GALLERY TOUR > SWG

‘A beacon for environmentally friendly construction’

We take you on a tour of SWG – Production’s innovative and ground-breaking extension to its HQ in Waldenburg...

There was no official opening for SWG Production’s new building ensemble in May thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, so instead the fastener manufacturer held a tour in mid-June for company owner Reinhold Würth, his wife Carmen Würth and some family members.

“So this is the new wooden hut?”

The sizeable extension includes a three-story building combining offices and exhibition areas which link to the production hall. The production hall measures a huge 12,800 m² with almost 97 metres in width and 114 metres in length.

SWG Production had not originally planned to create an extra office building. Offices were initially designed to be part of the production hall, but those plans developed into a small hall extension and finally into a separate office building. An enclosed bridge leads the visitors to the viewing bridge of the production hall.

The world’s largest roof structure made with BauBache?

SWG Production and its architects believe the building is ground-breaking. SWG Managing Director Alois Wimmer said: “The world's largest roof structure made of BauBuche [specially glued beech wood] was only made possible by the appropriate fasteners: A total of about 250,000 screws were used in the new hall.”

As well as being a significant piece of engineering, the production hall is “a beacon project for environmentally friendly construction”, says SWG Production. The positive effect of the natural building material aids climate protection through CO2 storage in wood.

Another aim is to give future visitor groups and other interested parties an understanding of timber construction in general, and timber engineering in particular. SWG Production is keen for others to follow its lead and produce similar buildings using similar materials.

Another aim is to give future visitor groups and other interested parties an understanding of timber construction in general, and timber engineering in particular. SWG Production is keen for others to follow its lead and produce similar buildings using similar materials.

Want to find out more? We’ll have more detail in the September print edition of Torque Magazine. Don’t get a copy?