B175

Restoration of a Wilhelminian Style Apartment Building

The building is a typical Wilhelminian style apartment building in Stuttgart-Heslach consisting of three storeys proper and one attic.
The location within the urban renewal area Stuttgart 22 – Heslach made it possible to support the structural alteration measures and remedial actions by means of municipal financial subsidies. After a number of coordination meetings with local authority representatives a reorganisation plan could be outlined and set.

Because the characteristic brick façade was thought to give distinction to the street picture, one did without any insulation of the façade and decided for a cautious restoration of the brickwork and sandstone blocks.

The restoration of the façade was complemented by special energetic measures on the exterior shell in order to get the possibly best preserving and ecological results.
Whereas the reconstruction works were restricted to restoration and dismantling measures on the building’s exterior, the interior underwent considerable alterations of the existing substance. Essential in this context again was the conservation and restoration of original building parts providing identity.

Before the reconstruction layer after layer was carefully removed in order to keep the damage to the original parts as little as possible. After the deconstruction all building parts to be saved and conserved were documented and recorded. The documentation then became the basis for the complete reconstruction concept of the apartments.

The apartments on the 3rd and 4th floor were combined into a maisonette with internal opening. The constriction of the rooms and the existing east-west orientation of the apartment on the 3rd floor were the reason why all bearing walls were removed, favouring an open and ample floor plan giving diverse mutual views of the different areas. Partitions were only conceived as built-in furniture clearly distinct from the existing building parts and materials.

The result is a collage-like interplay of contemporary architectural elements – as distinctive signs for the alterations - in contrast to the conserved and restored elements.

„Best Architects 13“ Award

VON M