Atelier ST

Description

In the south of Leipzig, behind the railroad tracks, the new southern combined heat and power plant rises with its characteristic colourful cubes. It is the first combined heat and power plant in Germany that is completely operated with hydrogen. The new structures are basically made up of purely technical features. They are, in a way, an oversized engine block. But that also means that they could not be integrated into their surroundings without any further measures because of their proximity to several high-quality listed buildings in the neighbourhood. Under these circumstances, the Leipzig municipal works launched a design competition, and chose the project «ceramic contination» by Atelier ST as winner. The idea was to translate the exposed brickwork of the historic buildings with their yellow, brown and reddish clinker bricks onto the three new buildings. Despite the solely technical function of the structures, the materials used for the façades were meant to create a refined appearance that corresponds with the surroundings and existing buildings. The material is therefore likewise fired clay, realised as a curtain façade consisting of glazed panels with a fine, irregular vertical structure. Only the ground levels are still made of clinker brickwork, withing a partially sloping framework that imitates the silhouette and form of the roofing of the buildings opposite the plant, thus managing to create a further relationship to the surroundings while also remaining independent.