Stadthaus M1 / Barkow Leibinger

16
SEP
2014
Projects Built Projects Selected Projects Hotels FreiburgHotels and
RestaurantsGermany
Architect:Barkow Leibinger
Photographers:Ina ReineckeZooey Braun
Materials: Wood Concrete
Architects: Barkow Leibinger
Location: Freiburg, Germany
Architect in Charge: Frank Barkow, Regine Leibinger
Design Team: Lukas Weder (project manager), Jonathan Kleinhample, Hiroki
Nakamura, Ulrich von Trckheim, Woonghee Cho
Area: 6668.0 sqm
Project Year: 2013
Photographs: Zooey Braun , Ina Reinecke
Zooey Braun Ina Reinecke Zooey Braun Zooey Braun
From the architect. Urban Design | Design Concept

The Stadthaus M1 marks the gate to the Vauban quarter of Freiburg a green city
partially automobile free, with an emphasis on alternative and sustainable living and
architecture. The task of the competition was to design an apartment building
complemented by a hotel and shops at the ground level. The construction of wood
and concrete is modeled after a passive house standard.
This 1st prize winning competition design consists of a separate hotel and
apartment building unified by the continuous topography of the roof-scape and
facade. The higher and more public hotel is located as an entrance at the main
artery of Merzhauser Strae, while the more private apartment building continues
behind the hotel along the Vaubanallee. The spatial gap between the two buildings
forms a green pocket park that opens and widens towards the south, allowing a

path between the buildings and a connection to the public circulation and greenroom fronting the buildings. This articulation improves daylighting and breaks down
the overall building mass on-site.
The low-tech facades save both energy and costs. They are highly insulated in wood
construction with 3x insulating panel glazing with integrated retractable louvered
sunscreens. The south facades, complimented by loggias and balconies, are
additionally protected by climbing plants on steel cables in front of the facade. This
layer of planting shades the interiors in the summer while allowing warming sun
through in the winter. The north facing facades will be clad in vertical cedar woodfins, an element that further unifies the two independent buildings visually.

Construction / Building Envelope / Energy Concept

The construction for the hotel and apartment buildings are similar: a passive energy
standard is reached by combining a structural concrete skeleton frame (floor slabs,
cores, and columns for fire protection) with an insulated prefabricated wood frame
infill panel system (non-load bearing). In comparison with a conventional masonry
construction this lightweight system uses a fifth more of gray energy. The concrete
floor slabs in this hybrid system have the added benefit of providing thermal mass
while the thinness of the wood frame walls generates more usable floor area.
Axonometric
The low-tech highly insulated facades are the same for the hotel and the apartment
building. The window frames are constructed in Oregon pine combined with passive
house standard glazing in the apartments and acoustic glazing in the hotel. Since
the hotel is situated at a very busy street, additional noise protection was
necessary. The wood exterior cladding is a local white pine stained a light gray. The
apartments include exterior louvered retractable sunscreens while the hotel utilizes
solar glass.

The south building facades, loggias and balconies at the pocket park between the
buildings complement active sun screening with a scrim of climbing/ flowering vines
of wisteria and roses. The plants grow rapidly up stainless steel vertical cables held
away from the facades. In this way the leafy plants shade the buildings in the
summer months while letting in warm sunlight in the cold winter months.
Additional vertical wood fins of Western Red Cedar 20 cm deep on 62.5 cm centers
define the remaining northern and end facades. These elements unify the two

building volumes further. They read as a continuous form segmented only by the
pocket park which separates them into two program types (hotel and apartment).

The roof is standing seam metal with photovoltaic panels laid inbetween.

Energy Concept

One of the most important design goals for the Stadthaus was to realize a
sophisticated architectural concept with the energy standards typical for Vauban, in
terms of content, technology, and design. In cooperation with Transsolar
Energietechnik and Horstmann und Berger Bauphysik, we developed an integral
concept that was later executed with Paul + Gampe + Partner.

Hotel and Retail:

The use of a highly insulated faade ensures that the requirements of the German
energy conservation regulations EnEV 2009 for the structural heat insulation in the
hotel and retail areas were undercut by 15%. The total primary energy supply is
60% below what is permitted. Heating and air conditioning work with the aid of wallintegrated water-bearing capillary tube mats. Partially renewable energy sources
are used for heating and water heating, local and long-distance heating. Additional
electricity is produced with a photovoltaic plant integrated into the roof.

Housing:

In the residential units, the transmission heat-loss coefficient is 30% below the
permissible limit, and the primary energy requirement is 70% below the permissible
level. Thus the apartments meet the Freiburg Energy-Efficiency-House Standard 40,
based on the internationally used passive house standards. A highly efficient
ventilation system with a high heat recovery rate, in combination with a high
building density, helps avoid uncontrolled ventilation heat loss.

Program / Organization

The GREEN CITY HOTEL VAUBAN has a three-star superior garni standard and is run
by a not-for-profit organization as a so-called integration business, where part of the
staff has a disability. In this way, the client Freiburger Stadtbau GmbH, which is also
a shareholder of the company running the building, combines energy standards with
socio-political goals.
On an area of almost 2,800 m2, the hotel provides space for 48 rooms and a suite.
To the south, facing the square, the lobby with the reception and a day bar are
located, as well as a breakfast room, and a conference area. To the north are the
side rooms, the kitchen, and the reception office. On the upper floors, the hotel
rooms are oriented along a central hallway to the north and south. Their concept
provides for a clear formal vocabulary using sustainable and regional materials. The
furniture was made of solid ash wood from the Black Forest.
Floor Plan
The residential building contains various apartment types varying in size from 110
to 196 m2, including a maisonette and a penthouse apartment with a generous
terrace. Because the plot is oriented in a north-south direction, the central living
spaces were planned as a sequence of kitchen, dining and living areas. The two
service cores are centrally arranged in the 14-meter deep building block so as to
utilize the darker zones. The apartments are arranged around the staircase so that
the entire faade can be used for lighting.
Rooms with lower temperatures, where inhabitants spend less time, i.e., bedrooms
and bathrooms, are located on the northern faade. Living rooms, childrens rooms
and studies are on the southern faade, where passive solar gains can be utilized
for heating. Floor-to-ceiling glazing ensures good lighting in the apartments. On the
ground floor of the residential building, three retail units for small mixed use
businesses contribute to enlivening the square.

Master Plan
Team Construction: Lukas Weder (project manager), Morihide Seki, Tim Unnebrink,
Sonia Sandberger, Andrea Hronjec
Models: Jens Weel
Project Management : Freiburger Stadtbau GmbH
Team: Lothar Korzen (project development), Jule Hinzpeter (project management)
Construction Management: Gassmann + Grossmann Baumanagement GmbH,
Stuttgart

Landscape Architect: Raderschallpartner AG, CH-Meilen

Civil Engineer: Fichtner Water & Transportation GmbH, Stuttgart
Structural Engineer: Theobald + Partner Ingenieure, Kirchzarten
Mechanical + Electrical Engineer: Paul + Gampe + Partner GmbH, Esslingen am
Neckar Energy Design: Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH, Stuttgart
Fire Protection Consultant: Brandschutzconsult GmbH & Co. KG, Ettenheim
Building Physics: Horstmann & Berger Ingenieurbro fr
Bauphysik, Altensteig Interior Design: Bauphysik, Altensteig Interior Design