In recent years much has been said about smart cities and smart buildings but people rarely understand what the label can actually mean in real terms. Together with the client FC Ingenieure in Karlsruhe and the technology company Merck, the architects at 3deluxe have succeeded in coming up with an attractive building ensemble with an interesting, innovative glass façade which adds a fascinating new facet to intelligent architecture.
A building is intelligent if it does not just stand there but can respond not only to the requirements of its users but also to external factors. At best, it can make people more comfortable while simultaneously optimizing energy efficiency. The FC Campus building’s intelligent architectural element is a sheet of foil, something normally used in smartphones, integrated into its glass structure.
The design of this boutique Yoga studio is based on the idea of flow – a term used in yoga practice to describe a sense of fluid movement and meditation. Within the space, these ideas manifest through smooth transitions between spaces and the extensive use of malleable materials such as fabrics and hempcrete. The entrance opens up onto a large reception area with a central desk doubling up as an occasional bar. A reconfigurable sofa follows the soft curve of a large screen acting as a space divider. On one side a large water fountain reminds visitors to wash their hands while the other side leads into the practice rooms.
The new Campus Großhadern at Munich University Hospital opens up a new green networked world for future-oriented medical care and research. The historic high-rise block will be demolished to make way for a coherent and accessible ensemble of buildings. The total volume of the new giant structure is made up of modules which, despite a high degree of spatial efficiency, convey the image of an open, permeable development and, if necessary, allow the campus to be easily extended. Inner courtyards and gardens allow for maximum daylight and very good ventilation, resulting in high amenity quality.
The idyllic town of Margrethausen, a district of Albstadt, is embedded in the gently rolling hills of the Swabian Alb. hilly landscape of the Swabian Alb. The sloping property on the edge of the village next to the mighty monastery offers an unobstructed view southwards over meadows and forests. This special location prompted us to glaze the entire south side of the saddle roof house right up to the gable. An essential goal of the design and the express wish of the client was to use future-oriented, sustainable materials and to integrate the building harmoniously into its surroundings.
A small hotel with 12 guest rooms was built in an industrial area as a conceptual extension of a meeting place for classic cars. A robust and site-typical structure made of semi-precast concrete elements and profiled glass with transparent thermal insulation is complemented by fine wooden fixtures, each of which defines the „special places“. Each guest room is given its own little „parlor“ with a prefabricated wooden box made of exposed „CLT“ which extends the conventional concept of the hotel room from a bedroom with a table and armchair to a real place to stay with the evening sun, quality of stay, and view. The folding of these cross-laminated timber elements also creates an individually assigned outdoor space for each room.
The new Van B residential project, located on Infanteriestrasse next to the future ‘Kreativquartier’ (creative quarter) in Munich, offers a completely new form of housing that reimagines the future of urban living.
As a prototype for modern city dwelling, Van B is designed to cater to changing demographics and multiple family constellations. With its highly flexible apartments, outdoor and shared communal spaces and striking facade, Van B offers a new form of urban living.
The office building is divided into three parts, which are determined by the means of contextual parameters: an architrave block, a waler and a head. This partition creates on the one hand a strong identity of the whole ensemble as an urbanistic prelude for the development of the Baakenhafen, on the other hand generates urban qualities inside the building.
As of May 2021, the site of Berlin-Tegel Airport will be developed into a research and industrial park for urban technologies, the Berlin TXL–Urban Tech Republic. The buildings of the airport, holistically designed by von Gerkan, Marg and Partners Architects (gmp), have been listed as historic monuments since 2019 and will be adapted to house new functions. The urban design and architectural heart of the site will remain the central terminal building with entrance hall and tower, which will be transformed by gmp into a start-up and innovation center.
Axel Springer has launched a move from print to digital media. Its new building on the campus in Berlin acts both as a symbol and a tool in this transition – a building to lure the elite of (Germany’s) digital Bohemia. Bisected by a diagonal atrium that opens up to the existing Axel Springer buildings, the essence of the design is a series of terraced floors that together form a ‘valley’ that creates an informal stage at the centre – a place to broadcast ideas to other parts of the company.
The new town hall in Remchingen, on a prominent site between federal highway B10 and the green space along the river Pfinz, is conceived as a new center for encounters and communication. Its immediate vicinity is dominated by the Remchingen Cultural Center and a nursing home, which are discrete, self-referential freestanding buildings that do not form an urban spatial relationship to each other.