knerer und lang Architekten

Description

With this high-rise dormitory, Günther Eckert made a radical contribution to the Olympic village in Munich in 1969. Over 800 apartments were housed in a building made of stacked concrete frames. After 40 years of use, the renovation of the impressive edifice was long overdue. Environmental and historic preservation concerns placed seemingly irreconcilable demands on the planners. The solution consisted in a differentiated new façade construction, which produces a strong sense of plasticity with a curtain wall of lightweight precast concrete elements. This approach allowed the existing support structure to be integrated into a new thermal envelope without forfeiting the building’s characteristic look as part of the listed ensemble. The reinterpretation takes up the material qualities and organisation of the façade without slavishly copying them. Cramped studio apartments were transformed into compact flats. The conversion can be read in the carefully developed details. Subtle references to the period of origin can always be found.