Finally, everything united

An ensemble of existing and new buildings creates space for all town hall functions in Waldbröl.

Aerial view of Burgerdorf am Alsberg – 700px

View of the connecting bridge between the old and new buildings, 15,700 pixels

Bu-rgercafe-ground floor-new building_15_700 pixels

Town hall ground floor new building_10_700 pixels

Many functional areas spread across many different buildings. This was the situation at Waldbröl Town Hall until recently. It was neither conducive to functional processes nor particularly convenient for citizens. It was therefore time to change this situation and bring the spatially separated functional areas together in one place and unite them organisationally – with the aim of making the town hall more citizen-friendly with an integrated citizens' hall and neighbourhood meeting place.

A suitable plot of land and building was quickly found in the "Am Alsberg" area, close to the city centre. The existing building, which already houses the town hall headquarters, is a listed former school building dating from 1904. It features typical design elements of the region from that period, such as black slate cladding and white lattice windows. The former mayor's villa is also located here, which, after extensive renovation, has been converted into additional functional areas for the town hall. The same applies to the new buildings constructed on the site by the Archwerk Generalplaner architectural firm. The aim is not to detract from the dominance of the two-storey school building with its mansard roof, black slate and lattice windows. On the contrary, the character of the existing buildings is to be emphasised and enhanced in terms of design. The design therefore envisages an urban ensemble whose cubature organises the necessary functional units of the town hall and blends harmoniously into its surroundings. This ensemble comprises the former school building, the former mayor's villa with a tent roof, a new three-storey long building with a flat roof and a new single-storey hall building with a flat roof.

These four building sections are grouped equally around a new central neighbourhood square. In order to preserve the dominance of the existing buildings, the building envelopes of both new buildings have been deliberately designed to be simple: narrow, floor-to-ceiling windows in a grid pattern, combined with precast concrete elements, reflect the half-timbered structure typical of the area and reinterpret it in a careful manner.

www.archwerk.org