Meyer Stegemann Architekten

Description

As part of the renaturation of the Mülibach, the stream’s course was redirected into a new channel. This intervention cleared a narrow strip of land on the southern bank of the Rhine, between the water protection line, the agricultural zone and the former mill district. On this site, a new hotel was built in a prime location to complement the existing seminar facilities at the «Paradies» monastery estate. On the eaves side, the building connects to the existing row of houses and completes it. The newly defined end of the building creates a spacious courtyard that keeps the central view from the monastery to the Rhine unobstructed and highlights the late-18th-century inn’s status as a standalone structure. The existing single-storey kitchen annex was fundamentally renovated, with new façade cladding for greater energy efficiency. The new building houses 34 hotel rooms, which face either the Rhine or the wooded riverside landscape. A concrete circulation core rests on the basement, which has been reduced to the central section of the building. The large, open-span hall to the north and the floor slab of the wing building to the south - flanked on two sides by retaining walls - serve equally as the foundation and protective layer for the three-storey timber structure above, constructed using prefabricated elements. The precise positioning and understated materiality of the new building complement the existing complex to form a new, modern ensemble.