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ÖFFENTLICHE BAUTEN • PUBLIC BUILDINGS INNERE WERTE • INNER VALUES
Im Obergeschoss ist ein Büroraum eingestellt. • The upper level includes an office. Schlanke Holzlamellen filtern die Südsonne. • Slender wooden slats filter the sun from the south.
S pannungsvolles Miteinander von Alt und Neu • An attractive side-by-side of the old and the new Die Erschließung erfolgt – fast mittig – von Osten. • The almost central access is from the east.
T he guiding ideas for this design were to treat the architectural heritage with con- interventions. Its stone-like new base, homogeneously constructed of insulating con-
sideration and respect and to preserve the character of the old barn in the center
crete with deep, generously proportioned reveals, preserves the solid impression of
of Kressbronn while transforming it – with just a few, well-considered interventions – the original. The new openings not only admit significantly more daylight inside, but
into a modern, accessible building. The conversion of the former agricultural barn also enable the entire interior to be experienced in an entirely fresh way – inside and
should preserve the building’s character, retain the deeply overhanging, protective outside open up to each other on the ground floor through the large glazed openings.
roof, and also maintain the traditional division with a solid ground floor and a thres- The core emerges from the concrete base, connecting the two upper floors within,
hing floor above. Above the new base, delicate wooden openwork now replaces the and its open gallery creates a tangibly different spatial experience. Nonetheless, the
old facade, reacting to the existing structure sensitively and altering it gently. Procee- familiar saddleback roof, with its historical timber trussing that projects out far bey-
ding from the historical significance of the stable’s architecture and the emotional ties ond the facade, remains present in the space – and can now be perceived from many
people have to it, the building was resituated in the present, using few architectural perspectives. With a lobby that is open to above, the building welcomes its visitors
means and without suppressing its history. By maintaining the existing urban struc- and encourages communication and encounters. The ground floor can be put to a
ture, with no external addition and no change to the striking, deeply overhanging variety of uses: as a dividable multipurpose room, an exhibition space, and a 24-
saddleback roof, the preservation-worthy historical building fabric was strengthened. hour library. The library on the first floor, with its media and magazine gallery and
its reading stations, offers surprisingly open views though the entire building. Here
Introverted Storage has become an open house in particular, the old and the new enter into an exciting dialogue. The balance of past
and present becomes the building’s special quality, not only from the outside but
At its prominent location within the village, close to both the town hall and the fe- especially from the inside. In order to maintain the internal character of the protec-
stival hall, the barn’s new public use as a library and community center has esta- tive roof, the old roof structure was carefully restored, replacing individual wood
blished an important connection that now links the three separate buildings. An in- parts only where necessary. Beneath the roof, the typical clapboard siding that ori-
viting forecourt and a broad outdoor terrace reinforce the barn’s new public charac- ginally surrounded the threshing floor of the historical barn is the important refe-
ter and encourage people to linger. The erstwhile, rather introverted storage building rence. To obtain the diffused light desired for the library now housed there, however,
has become an open house that conserves its familiar image, with the solid base the old facade was subtly transformed by aligning the wood boards upright and ro-
and large, open timber roof structure, while at the same time speaking an unequi- tating them variously in the vertical axis. This resulted in slender wood slats whose
vocally modern language with the materials used and the large openings on the varied angles filter the daylight and allow it to penetrate inside – and whose elegant
ground floor. To this end, the barn was revamped with simple, precisely conceived structure bestows an astonishingly modern appearance to the building.
136 • AIT 5.2019