Exchanging Aluminum for white Concrete

Exchanging Aluminum for white Concrete

The white house

The functional business building from 1974 in Königstraße in Stuttgart has exchanged its dark aluminum façade for a powerful white concrete grid.

Technical defects were the trigger for creating a new shell for the plastically staggered business building, designed by Max Bächer in 1974. Until its reconstruction this used to be a radio and music house the moving façade of anodized aluminum was designed for. By re-designing it to become the White House, the entrance levels and open-plan offices, which used to be open towards Königstraße and which couldn’t be rented out anymore, were turned into smaller office units.

 

Efficient from an urban-planning related point of view

The White House’s location as a corner building with the neighboring house pushed back and its orientation towards a square-like area in front of it attracts people’s attention. It has received an urban character as an office and commercial building, it has clear urban-planning related edges and reinforces the buildings in general at the entrance to Königstraße. The new, self-supporting and heavily grid-like façade made of white concrete with elevated corners increases this effect even more. According to the architects, the façade design is based on the ideas of Paul Stohrer and its closeness to classic modernism. The nearby town hall from 1956 was constructed by him, for instance, in co-operation with Paul Schmohl. Just like the former building for the Radio Barth store from 1966, which used to be in Königstraße as well.

 

Grid games

The original massiveness of the base and the eave have been reduced along with the façade re-design. The grid develops in three different widths across the levels towards the top: On the first and second floor it has a width that allows plenty of space between the display windows. On the two floors above, the grid has been adjusted to meet the requirements of an office use and has been narrowed down and equipped with double-wing, room-high window doors. They are framed by profiles made of architectural bronze as a contrast in color to the white façade. The alloy of copper, zinc, manganese and lead create, due to chemical treatment, a brown color ranging from bright to dark shades. On the sixth and seventh floor, the grid divides the distances in the two lower floors.
In order to additionally emphasize the edge between the facades to both sides of Königstraße, an ashlar-shaped part has been removed and an eighth partial level has been placed on top across the corner.

 

No typical rear

Between Königstraße and the Schmale Straße running parallel, the building spans, accompanied by wide stairs, a terrain jump of 3.60 meters. In order to raise the value of the building’s rear, the entrance area of the offices on the upper floors has received a special plastic shaping. The soft lines and round façade openings for lighting the staircase are an exciting contrast to the orthogonal grid façade and create a well-made transition from the White House to the neighboring building.

 

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Königsbau Passages, Stuttgart

Further projects from Stuttgart…

Project details

Architect:

LRO Prof. Lederer, Ragnarsdóttir, Oei

Status:

Completion: 2006

Constructor:

Phoenix Real Estate Development GmbH, Stuttgart/Frankfurt/Main, Germany

Comments

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admin's picture
admin 28. June 2011 - 22:06

F'n ¨A¨¨ ¡¡

admin's picture
admin 29. June 2011 - 3:24

The soft lines and round façade openings for lighting the staircase are an exciting contrast to the orthogonal grid façade .Create a well-made transition .

admin's picture
admin 29. June 2011 - 3:39

ECO/LIVING DESIGNS offers interesting glass facade reflections of passing clouds....also see Sphere Group One LCC here in facebook.....

admin's picture
admin 29. June 2011 - 3:44

Wow. . . Gud concpt yar. . .

admin's picture
admin 29. June 2011 - 3:44

Wow. . . Gud concpt yar. . .

admin's picture
admin 1. July 2011 - 17:11

nice combo

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admin 2. July 2011 - 1:22

very nice progressive modulation in the openings

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