Brombach + Gess designed and installed a retractable roof on the Europa II which covers the entire width of the deck with across a span of 22 m and a length of 35 m.
The entire retractable roof is segmented into 6 elements – two fixed areas in the fore and aft sections and four movable elements which can be retracted over the fixed elements.
The objective in the planning for the roof was to develop the lightest and most streamlined structure possible without additional braces and supports. The entire frame structure was made from aluminum, allowing for a weight reduction of 20 t in comparison with a steel structure. The glass in the roof is a laminated solar-filtered glass which keeps to temperatures under the roof at a moderate level. The glass is bonded flat to the aluminum structure. As a result, stress peaks on the glass, caused by the relatively soft aluminum structure, are avoided.