EME AERO Centre - a venture between two global leaders in the aviation industry

Project description

EME AERO is a joint venture between two global leaders in the aviation industry: MTU Aero Engines and Lufthansa Technik. It is a state-of-the-art MRO engine service centre for PW1000 series GTF aircraft engines, located in Jasionka near Rzeszów. The investment covers an area of approximately 16 hectares, equivalent to the area of 23 football pitches.

The newly established centre employs more than 1,000 qualified employees and aims to be the most modern centre of its kind in the world. The service centre plays a key role in the development of Pratt & Whitney’s global network of engine service facilities.

The façade design for the office section of the building uses a prefabricated and modular system, with smooth insulated panels featuring a K-Roc® mineral wool core as the main elements. The system makes it possible to achieve the aesthetics typical of ventilated façades while also meeting all building envelope requirements, including thermal insulation, airtightness and fire resistance.

The façade area was 2,085 m², and two colours were selected: R7016 and R9002.

Interview with the architects: Paweł Kowalski and Mariusz Kołwzan, Senior Architects

1. What was the vision, the idea behind the design of the EME AERO building in Jasionka? What was your inspiration while working on this design?

PK: The idea for the building evolved naturally during the design process, along with functional changes, but we managed to maintain the dynamic character of the volumes, the large areas of glazing and the durable façade materials.

2. Did the investors/owners have any specific expectations that influenced the final design?

MK: We achieved the expected effect of a certain material similarity to the outer skin of passenger aircraft. Other important considerations when selecting the façade were the technical parameters, especially fire resistance properties and the quality of the paint coating.

3. What made you use this system for this particular design? What was the reasoning behind this choice?

MK: I decided to choose this façade for several reasons. The first were aesthetic aspects: it is a high-quality, technologically advanced façade, in a way that reflects the requirements of the aerospace industry. In addition, the product provides the necessary synergy of aesthetic and technical properties, including those related to installation principles. The final advantage is the ease of on-site installation and the possibility of quickly closing the building, which was very important given the very tight work schedule.