A strikingly innovative structure has opened on the campus of RHEINZINK® America’s parent company, RHEINZINK GmbH & Co. KG, in Datteln, Germany. Designed by Daniel Libeskind, the new welcome and reception center is actually a prototype of a residential concept that will be marketed throughout the world. Identified as Villa Libeskind, the exterior of the highly-sustainable 5,500 sq. ft. building is clad with RHEINZINK standing-seam façade.

Described as a “walk-in sculpture,” Villa Libeskind models will be sold by German builder proportion GmbH, Berlin. Proportion plans to construct 30 units around the globe although no city will have more than one.

The RHEINZINK cladding will be available in either Pre-Weathered Blue-Gray or Graphite-Gray. The façade is affixed to a structural wood core that offers high thermal insulation. As a renewable resource, wood is making a strong comeback as a key building material due to its carbon-storing capabilities. The zinc façade features an invisibly integrated solar thermal system and rain water harvesting system. Other sustainable features include a geothermal heat pump system and photovoltaic cells integrated into the cladding.

Villa Libeskind is meant to provide homeowners with comfort and a high standard of living in a sustainable, eco-friendly manner. It is classified as a low-energy structure and complies with some of the world’s toughest energy saving standards such as Germany’s KfW 40 code which indicates a thermal energy consumption of less than 40 kilowatt hours of thermal energy per square meter per year.

Components for Villa Libeskind models will be manufactured in Germany and shipped to building sites, where construction is estimated to take four to five months.

Photos ©Frank Marburger