To make future air traffic more environmentally friendly and climate-compatible, the DLR facility Technologies for Small Aircraft – short DLR facility KF – was established in 2020, which operates the Innovation Center for Small Aircraft Technologies (INK). The INK is dedicated to the topics of electric flying and (inter-)urban mobility with a focus on small aircraft in the context of the vision of the Rhineland region as a so-called mobility region of the future.
The concept of electric flying plays a key role in climate-compatible aviation. The electrification of aircraft has the potential to locally minimize emissions and make mobility quieter and more efficient. In this context, small aircraft can fulfill a dual benefit. On the one hand, they are ideal test platforms in which and with which new technologies – also for large aircraft – can be tested and demonstrated in a simple, quick, and economical manner. On the other hand, small aircraft themselves must also become climate-compatible – both today’s and novel small aircraft have the potential to contribute to the mobility transition, for example, in (inter-)urban areas.
The project is intended to lay the foundation for its later construction and the research activities of the DLR in the so-called Aero-Park – a new planning area in the city of Würselen, aimed at aviation-related innovative partners. The building combines several work areas and thus enables the direct development and integration of new technologies in a specialized environment.
At the DLR site in Aachen Merzbrück, a hangar building with hangar hall, repair workshop, test rooms, storage rooms, offices, meeting and social rooms, as well as rooms for other user-defined requirements, will be constructed at the Aachen-Merzbrück airfield. The planning takes into account special requirements arising from the operating model of the Innovation Center INK and the location as a mono-site.
The hangar building at the Aachen Merzbrück site shall provide capacity for about 120 employees.
It will serve as a central location for the research, testing, and demonstration of technologies on the ground as well as in the air and offers the necessary offices, workshop spaces, and testing rooms as well as the required direct access to the runway.
The direct access of the property to the runway of the airfield shall be created by means of its own taxiway.
The DLR facility KF (as a structural change project) significantly contributes to the creation of new, high-quality jobs and training places by aiming to bring innovative technologies and practices into application together with regional partners from science, industry, and politics and to shape climate-compatible aviation with solutions from the Rhineland region. It contributes to the prosperity of the region and to a new social acceptance for pioneering aviation.
The hangar building is to be constructed according to the user's wishes according to the Silver standard of the Sustainable Building Assessment System (BNB). As part of a BNB certification, the entire life cycle of a building is considered, taking into account ecological, economic, sociocultural quality as well as technical aspects and processes. The certification shall take place in parallel with the planning.
For the hangar building, a space requirement has been compiled based on the requirements plan: //
- Office space, testing rooms, seminar, technology, storage, measurement, and observation platform total: 2,100 m² //
- Hangar hall: 840 m²
Areas such as circulation areas (corridors, staircases, etc.) and sanitary facilities are not included in these space requirements.
This is a construction measure according to the RZBau (Guidelines for the Implementation of Grant Measures).
Scope of Services //
The scope of services for general planning services of the hangar includes all necessary planning and monitoring services required for the measure LPH 2-4 according to the annex to §6, particularly the performance profiles //
• Object planning for buildings and interiors //
• Specialist planning Structural Planning //
• Specialist planning Technical Equipment ELT + HLS //
• Object planning Traffic facilities + outdoor facilities and engineering structures (canals) //
• Construction Physics //
• Fire Protection Planning //
The milestones for the implementation of the project are: //
- Start of services: Nov 2025 //
- Start of construction: 4th quarter 2027 //
- Completion: mid 2030 //
The total costs of the project (KG 200-500) are estimated at €25.4 million net and are divided into the following distribution of KG: //
- KG 200 €1,200,000 //
- KG 300 €13,176,536 //
- KG 400 €7,441,760 //
- KG 500 €3,581,250 //
A phased commissioning of the services described below is intended.
Initially, the service phases 2 and 3 (pre-planning and design planning) according to HOAI, or according to the annex, will be commissioned in the commissioning stage 1a. There is no legal entitlement to overall commissioning. Further information on the planned measure can be found in the feasibility study and other informational documents, which are attached to the tender documents as "Tender Document G - Planning and Information Documents."
LOT-0001
Construction of Hangar Building for the DLR Facility Technologies for Small Aircraft (KF), Aachen Merzbrück - General Planning Services, Service Phases 2-4 according to HOAI.
To make future air traffic more environmentally friendly and climate-compatible, the DLR facility Technologies for Small Aircraft – short DLR facility KF – was established in 2020, which operates the Innovation Center for Small Aircraft Technologies (INK). The INK is dedicated to the topics of electric flying and (inter-)urban mobility with a focus on small aircraft in the context of the vision of the Rhineland region as a so-called mobility region of the future.
The concept of electric flying plays a key role in climate-compatible aviation. The electrification of aircraft has the potential to locally minimize emissions and make mobility quieter and more efficient. In this context, small aircraft can fulfill a dual benefit. On the one hand, they are ideal test platforms in which and with which new technologies – also for large aircraft – can be tested and demonstrated in a simple, quick, and economical manner. On the other hand, small aircraft themselves must also become climate-compatible – both today’s and novel small aircraft have the potential to contribute to the mobility transition, for example, in (inter-)urban areas.
The project is intended to lay the foundation for its later construction and the research activities of the DLR in the so-called Aero-Park – a new planning area in the city of Würselen, aimed at aviation-related innovative partners. The building combines several work areas and thus enables the direct development and integration of new technologies in a specialized environment.
At the DLR site in Aachen Merzbrück, a hangar building with hangar hall, repair workshop, test rooms, storage rooms, offices, meeting and social rooms, as well as rooms for other user-defined requirements, will be constructed at the Aachen-Merzbrück airfield. The planning takes into account special requirements arising from the operating model of the Innovation Center INK and the location as a mono-site.
The hangar building at the Aachen Merzbrück site shall provide capacity for about 120 employees.
It will serve as a central location for the research, testing, and demonstration of technologies on the ground as well as in the air and offers the necessary offices, workshop spaces, and testing rooms as well as the required direct access to the runway.
The direct access of the property to the runway of the airfield shall be created by means of its own taxiway.
The DLR facility KF (as a structural change project) significantly contributes to the creation of new, high-quality jobs and training places by aiming to bring innovative technologies and practices into application together with regional partners from science, industry, and politics and to shape climate-compatible aviation with solutions from the Rhineland region. It contributes to the prosperity of the region and to a new social acceptance for pioneering aviation.
The hangar building is to be constructed according to the user's wishes according to the Silver standard of the Sustainable Building Assessment System (BNB). As part of a BNB certification, the entire life cycle of a building is considered, taking into account ecological, economic, sociocultural quality as well as technical aspects and processes. The certification shall take place in parallel with the planning.
For the hangar building, a space requirement has been compiled based on the requirements plan: //
- Office space, testing rooms, seminar, technology, storage, measurement, and observation platform total: 2,100 m² //
- Hangar hall: 840 m²
Areas such as circulation areas (corridors, staircases, etc.) and sanitary facilities are not included in these space requirements.
This is a construction measure according to the RZBau (Guidelines for the Implementation of Grant Measures).
Scope of Services //
The scope of services for general planning services of the hangar includes all necessary planning and monitoring services required for the measure LPH 2-4 according to the annex to §6, particularly the performance profiles //
• Object planning for buildings and interiors //
• Specialist planning Structural Planning //
• Specialist planning Technical Equipment ELT + HLS //
• Object planning Traffic facilities + outdoor facilities and engineering structures (canals) //
• Construction Physics //
• Fire Protection Planning //
The milestones for the implementation of the project are: //
- Start of services: Nov 2025 //
- Start of construction: 4th quarter 2027 //
- Completion: mid 2030 //
The total costs of the project (KG 200-500) are estimated at €25.4 million net and are divided into the following distribution of KG: //
- KG 200 €1,200,000 //
- KG 300 €13,176,536 //
- KG 400 €7,441,760 //
- KG 500 €3,581,250 //
A phased commissioning of the services described below is intended.
Initially, the service phases 2 and 3 (pre-planning and design planning) according to HOAI, or according to the annex, will be commissioned in the commissioning stage 1a. There is no legal entitlement to overall commissioning. Further information on the planned measure can be found in the feasibility study and other informational documents, which are attached to the tender documents as "Tender Document G - Planning and Information Documents."