Supermarket, Mönchengladbach, Germany

A bamboo texture on the façade of Kaufland in Mönchengladbach makes the weekly grocery shopping more interesting. 

The new Kaufland opened in the Mönchengladbach suburb of Holt in early 2019. With roughly 4,200 square meters of sales floor, this building was given a special design by Hannover-based firm Coop.005 Architects: warm tinted concrete with a bamboo texture envelopes the building, complemented by custom-made aluminum slats. 

In total, 950 precast concrete elements were used for the project. The team placed their trust in formliners from the RECKLI SELECT range when it came to designing the precast concrete façade elements: 22 elastic shell liners in the 2/32 Inn design were placed into the shells before the concrete was poured. They embossed the bamboo effect into the concrete. Overall, 84 square meters of concrete were produced. 

Construction firm W. Hundhausen was the prime contractor responsible for the project, while the precast elements were poured at W+S Monnerjahn precast plant. Here, pigments were used to tint the concrete a sand-colored hue. The concrete elements comply with exposed concrete class 3.