At Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, Schwarzmann successfully delivered Slovenia’s largest aircraft maintenance hangar for Solinair. The state-of-the-art facility was custom engineered to expand Solinair’s service capacities and support their highly demanding maintenance workflows.
The building is divided into two seamlessly integrated functional zones: the southern section serves as the primary aircraft servicing bay, while the northern wing houses specialised workshops, storage facilities, modern changing rooms, and administrative offices.
Schwarzmann’s full-service execution spanned structural engineering, steel fabrication, and on-site assembly, alongside the complete installation of the façade, roofing, and specialised hangar doors.
Project Highlights:
This landmark facility represents a pivotal strategic milestone for Solinair, securing the infrastructure needed to drive the continuous growth of their aerospace operations.
Interior of the Solinair hangar during aircraft maintenance (photo: Jernej Nučič).
Do you need a larger steel facility for aviation or another industrial activity? Contact the Schwarzmann team for customised design and construction.
Founded in 1991, Solinair is a premier Slovenian aviation company specializing in cargo operations, charter flights, technical support, aircraft maintenance, and the training of licensed aerospace professionals.
Driven by an expanding operational footprint and an increasing demand for maintenance capacity, Solinair required a significantly larger, state-of-the-art hangar. Because aerospace maintenance demands rigorous technical and safety standards, the new facility had to seamlessly accommodate highly optimized workflows and complex service processes.
To realize this vision, the project had to overcome several critical challenges:
Additionally, constructing within a highly restricted airport security zone introduced unique operational complexities, requiring strict adherence to stringent security protocols and rigorous crane height limitations throughout the build.
The new hangar is divided into two main sections in terms of both function and structure. The southern section forms the central hangar for aircraft maintenance and repair, while the northern section includes an annex with corporate office spaces, changing rooms, sanitary facilities, workshops and storage areas.
Scope of work carried out by Schwarzmann:
The contractor for the construction and finishing works was Tosidos d.o.o., which was responsible for construction organisation as well as the of the annex, mechanical and electrical equipment.
Installation of the first columns and lifting of one half of the girder (photo: Jernej Nučič)
The hangar’s load-bearing structure was designed as a steel structure with a clear height of 19 m, or 24 m up to the parapet.
A key feature of the structural design is the modularity of the facility. In the future, the hangar can be extended by an additional 24 metres, increasing the total width of the building to 72 m. For this reason, the structure was adapted and dimensioned for this span from the outset.
The entire steel structure weighs 570 tonnes and consists of:
The largest bolt used, an M45 × 150, weighs as much as 4 kg together with the nut and washers.
Hangar structure (photo: Jernej Nučič)
One of the project’s greatest engineering challenges was the fabrication and installation of the primary roof girders. Standing 4.7 metres high and weighing up to 19.5 tonnes each, their massive scale presented unique logistical constraints.
Due to transport limitations and hot-dip galvanizing constraints, the girders had to be transported in segments and assembled directly on-site. To ensure absolute structural integrity, all diagonal web joints were secured using preloaded bolts tensioned to precise tightening torques.
Prior to on-site installation, Schwarzmann conducted a rigorous trial lift of the first girder at our production facility in Slovenia. This critical step allowed our engineering team to analyze the structure’s behavior under stress and verify that actual deflections matched our computational design models exactly.
The project followed an intensive timeline:
The facility was founded on strip foundations. As the annex includes a basement, the foundations reach a depth of 5.25 m in certain areas. Precise installation of anchors for the assembly of the steel structure was also an important part of the execution.
Assembly of the final hangar girders (photo: Jernej Nučič).
High-profile 150 mm sheet metal is fixed to the roof structure.
The roof includes:
The total roof area is 3,300 m².
The façade envelope is made with 200 mm Trimo panels, covering a total area of 4,350 m².
We also prepared brackets on the structure for suspending the rails of a 4-tonne overhead travelling crane, which covers the entire floor area of the hangar.
A distinctive feature of the facility is its hangar door, measuring 40 m in width and 18 m in height. It is made of fabric and provides a completely unobstructed opening across the full width.
The facility also includes sectional doors with integrated pedestrian passages.
As access between the hangar and the airport area is strictly controlled, all doors are equipped with an access control system using card readers. The system is also connected to the fire alarm control panel, enabling safe evacuation in the event of an alarm.
40-metre hangar door with a completely unobstructed opening. For scale: the left and right pedestrian doors are 2 m tall.
At Schwarzmann, we engineer, manufacture, and assemble custom steel structures tailored for industrial, logistics, manufacturing, and specialized sectors. We offer our clients end-to-end project support—guiding you seamlessly from initial conceptual design and structural engineering through to final fabrication and on-site assembly.
We specialize in high-stakes, large-scale projects where fast-track execution, technical precision, and bespoke adaptation to investor requirements are paramount.
If you are planning a major industrial facility, a logistics hub, or a specialized aircraft hangar, get in touch with our team today. Together, we will engineer the optimal structural solution for your business.