Facelift for a wave of sympathy


‘We chose the most courageous design from a courageous architect’, says Heinrich Sonsalla. He is the managing director of the municipal housing society of Magdeburg, known as Wobau, and the owner of the 7-storeyed prefabricated building in Regierungsstrasse along the raised shoreline of the Elbe. The inhabitants of Magdeburg have called it ‘construction worker's hotel’ to this day because of its history. For nearly a half a century, the house has been a popular residential address: not only is it situated in city centre overlooking the Elbe, the building stands high enough above the river that it is protected from floods. However, up until recently, the longest residential building in town was, according to Sonsalla, ‘an eyesore’, its façade ailing and its balconies close to collapse. When the call came to tender bids for a new façade, the firm ‘arc Architekturconzept’ – the Magdeburg branch of which is managed by the aforementioned courageous architect Sandra Oheim – was awarded the contract in 2010. She underlines the role that teamwork played in coming up with the design. This July, the scaffolding came down around a unique, prize-worthy specimen that has every passer-by looking up to it.

Like a wave of the Elbe, the three-dimensional façade vaults over the entire length of the house, up to the roof, curving around the lateral building edges. The arched, cantilevered balconies with balustrades made of silver perforated metal sheets intermingle with the smooth glass surfaces of the conservatories. A graphic pattern is formed, that can read on the facade from a sufficient distance: the letters W and O for Wobau. Proximity to the Elbe was the inspiration for this design, explains Sandra Oheim, who strives to create a local relation in all her houses. ‘The undulation in the curved geometry of the façade adds dynamic to the square-edged residential block’. The effect works best when one stands directly in front of the building and looks straight up, so the architect describes her favourite view. Most passers-by look at the façade in this way.

When coming up with the design, a priority was placed on giving tenants larger, more usable balconies. Previously, balconies measured 1.20 metres (‘good for stepping outside and sighing’, so Oheim). Today the balconies and conservatories range from 1.80 to 2.65 metres in depth. ‘Now, you can fit a dining table with four chairs’. This nets Wobau about 500 square metres of additional leasable space.

To open the conservatories in summer, the fourth-part sliding glazing can be parked above the balustrade, pane by pane, one after the other. For this purpose, a special sliding system had to be constructed.

Hanging this substantially deeper façade on the old building presented a technical challenge. ‘To avoid adding static loads, the construction had to be light’, explains the architect. The reinforced concrete structure, which is anchored floor by floor, looks almost filigree and consists of curved finished elements, whereby the prefabricated modules can be re-combined in a number of ways.

This was even economical: ‘We demonstrate that it is possible to achieve a nice effect, even without a lot of money’, underscores Oheim. Wobau invested about €3.2m  in the renovation of the exterior, including heat insulation. Their technical leader Peter Lackner praises the symbiosis of ‘architectural aesthetics and energy efficiency’. In his opinion, the new façade is an ‘enhancement’ which will secure the future of this residential block in the market.

Right in front of the entrance, the old Way of St. James lead along today’s Regierungsstrasse. Perhaps it will be rediscovered by tourists who come to look at the Elbe-wave façade. Sandra Oheim would like to realise even more of her ideas in Magdeburg, where the native of Thuringia has lived ever since receiving her degree in architecture in Erfurt in 1998. ‘I would like to build houses that people remember, that make them think: I saw this in Magdeburg’. The ‘Arc’ architects were pioneers in redeveloping the fallow urban shores of the Elbe and are currently located in a modern building of their own design with the lovely address: Zum Domfelsen 1 (Nr. 1, Cathedral Rock)


Author: Ute Semkat