Haus am Buddenturm

Architects from the hehnpohl architektur practice have put the blueprint for a special kind of house to effect on the former city fortifications around the old heart of Münster, Germany. With its radically pared-down formal idiom, their Haus am Buddenturm blends in almost organically with a row of period gable-roofed houses. The project also scores heavily on account of its modern, purist implementation and the great attention paid to selecting the right materials. The architects went for window and door handles from the FSB 1242 range in optically variable matt Bronze as a means of agreeably rounding the design off.

The new building by the internationally acclaimed architects’ practice aligns itself with historical prototypes in the vicinity. A large window on the first floor affords a view of the eponymous Buddenturm tower, whose circular brick façade is one of the few visible remains of Münster’s former city fortifications. The new house’s hand-moulded brick façade forges a direct link be-tween the past and the present. Timber and exposed concrete dominate the building’s interior, combining with targeted shafts of incident daylight to create a very special atmosphere with a great deal of warmth and domesticity.

The FSB 1242 model, which British architect John Pawson reworked for FSB on the basis of an original by Hans Poelzig and which has been re-issued in Bronze, complements the holistic nature of the interior design. The Bronze variant incorporates a high-grade copper-tin alloy that releases a constant flow of copper ions. This deprives multi-resistant germs of the conditions they need to thrive in, thus ensuring that the hardware retains its natural antimicrobial properties throughout its service life. “The material simply exudes dignity”, the architects enthuse, “and at the same time, despite being a ‘cold’ metal, it is a joy to take hold of.” The model’s formal clarity and suffused edges reinforce the overall impact of the interior spaces and bring material and form into harmonious accord.


About FSB
FSB is a byword the world over for visually and functionally top-quality hard-ware solutions for doors and windows, electronic access solutions and sanitary fit-outs. Architects and builders’ clients favour reaching out for products from Brakel owing to FSB’s great design expertise and its pro-found under-standing of the requirements of modern construction. Every-thing in any way associated with handle culture in built spaces is catered to from a single source.

hehnpohl architektur