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New athletics hall for the football team VfB Stuttgart has a custom-made shade system that allows an unobstructed view of the outside

After recently finishing in second place in the Bundesliga table, VfB Stuttgart are not only thrilled by their outstanding sporting achievements but the football club from Swabia, a region in southwestern Germany, are also delighted to have opened their new athletics hall following an eight month construction period. This new multifunctional facility at the Club Centre on Mercedesstraße leaves no wish unfulfilled and has been available to the Bundesliga footballers since summer 2023. The main focus of the modern and high-quality equipment is of course athletic training and performance diagnostics – but huge importance was also placed on the quality of the automated sun protection system. VfB Stuttgart wanted a solution that cleverly combined stylish aesthetics with powerful functions and placed their trust in the long-standing experience and expertise of the company Merkle GmbH – based in the town of Nagold which is also in Swabia – to tackle this challenging project. The company is a valued expert for roller shutters and sun protection systems and a manufacturer who can also deliver professional solutions for specific customer requirements.

Vertical XXL sun blinds

“The biggest challenge with this project was the extraordinary height of the required zip screens”, explains Managing Director Jochen Merkle, who has managed this fourth-generation, family-run business together with his brother Markus Merkle since 2010. “Our task was to provide shade on the two opposite-facing glazed façades of the athletics hall, each of which is around 6.30 metres high, using continuous canvases without any seams. One of the most important requirements for this sun protection solution, aside from heat protection, was to ensure that the professional footballers still had an unobstructed view of the outside even when the blinds are lowered so that they can enjoy a pleasant training experience. Therefore, the first thing we did was to develop and design a system within a short space of time that could seamlessly handle this length of canvas.”

Successful teamwork

A total of 17 of these custom-made vertical sun blinds measuring approximately 2.50 metres in width and 6.30 metres in height ultimately had to be integrated into the KNX control system at the athletics hall. This solution was another good demonstration that the best results often rely on successful teamwork even away from the football pitch. This is because the experts at Merkle have been relying on the support of their partners at Becker-Antriebe GmbH, based in Hesse, for the automation of their sun protection solutions since 2008. “For you. Forever.” has been the new claim of this experienced specialist for drives and control units for roller shutters and sun protection systems since the beginning of the year. A claim that is not just nice words but also reflected in action. Jochen Merkle: “Special solutions that stand out due to their high quality and functional reliability – this is the standard against which we want to be measured. Especially when working on larger projects such as this athletics hall, this is why we greatly appreciate having Becker at our side because they share precisely these values – from the provision of technical advice and their close personal contact through to their durable quality “Made in Germany”.”

Strong performance

The well-though-out sun protection system installed in the new VfB athletics hall delivers a high level of performance just like the professional footballers themselves: The vertical sun blinds from Merkle can be moved into the correct position depending on the weather conditions by wired ZIP drives from Becker that are controlled via KNX. All of the blinds can be completely lowered as one group or each individual blind can also be operated separately and moved to different intermediate positions – so that the users of the athletics hall can flexibly adjust the sun protection system to their needs. The blinds protect against both the summer heat and also low-lying winter sun to deliver a pleasant indoor climate and glare-free training at any time of the year. The ground floor of the building alone provides 270 square meters of training space for the VfB professionals. The footballers can use the 30-metre artificial turf running track to, for example, improve their speed or complete sprint tests. The running track is bordered on both sides by various weight training and cardio equipment, as well as by barbell systems. The top floor of the hall contains an office and offers ample space for yoga as well as stretching and coordination exercises. “As Swabians we are of course incredibly proud of the fact that we were able to contribute our expertise and experience to this special project,” says Jochen Merkle and adds: “We wish VfB Stuttgart continued success in the new Bundesliga season – and naturally lots of fun training.”