SYRA_SCHOYERER ARCHITEKTEN

Description

The pumping station is situated in the northwest of the former inland port in Mainz. Due to structural changes to a new attractive urban district, the surrounding area along the promenade has been upgraded so the client made the decision to create a sustainable design for this local future recreation area. There is no typology for pumping stations at all. However, the architects considered it important to design a building that demonstrated its function as a pumping station to the environment. The window and seamless building, according to an “architecture parlante” (C.N. Ledoux 1736–1806), is a pure and heavy monolith, resting on a vein of water. The surface of the charcoal-grey concrete cube with folded sides and eaves was decorated by masonry work on its entire surface. As a result of the 30-mm-thick roughness of the surface, nothing reminds us of the conventional building process. The folded sides produce light and shaded edges and the rough texture of the surface increases the interaction of sidelight, full covered illumination and shadows.