As part of the redesign of the Wandelhalle in Bad Wildungen, the central spa complex of the tradition-rich spa in northern Hesse, the upper floors of the building were to be made accessible to the disabled. According to the plans of the architectural firm Gehring & Partner, they were to be reached via a representative glass elevator in the foyer of the hall. The client for the conversion was the Bad Wildungen state spa. We were awarded the contract for a round elevator with a self-supporting, round steel and glass framework and integrated, round sliding doors.
A major challenge of the project was that the individual components for this design could hardly be ordered from suppliers, which is why Thoma Aufzüge manufactured both the shaft frame and the cabin completely in-house. We had to have several steel parts rounded off by special companies.
The car and shaft glazing of the system is also technically extremely demanding. New standards have come into force for the shape of the panes, for which no empirical values were available at the time. We therefore had to have the safety of the glass panes checked by pendulum impact tests. These are standardized tests in which the impact of people on a pane of glass is simulated and thus the breaking strength is tested, for example in glass parapets or in shaft scaffolding or elevator cabs.
Bad Wildung’s spa park is the largest in Europe, and the town is the second largest spa in Germany with a history dating back more than 600 years. Bad Wildungen’s most important healing waters are offered in the spring dome of the Wandelhalle. The stone round pillar, which still characterizes the entrance situation of the Wandelhalle and the forecourt, was built in 1929. Originally, the hall was an open, cast-iron pavilion. In 1960, an event hall with glass walkways was added to the building.