Glass Factory Conversion

The design of the Welless Center and Spa in Düsseldorf takes advantage of the landmark buildings of a former glass factory, as part of the new urban contextualization of the central “Glassworks Plaza.” The two unique buildings, the former power station and the boiler house, now constitute a protected landmark as part of the old glass factory complex. Their inimitable historic and architectonic qualities therefore open up a range of opportunities for exciting new programmatic conversions.

The design of the Wellness Center and Spa is conceptually based on engaging the architectural dialectic between the old factory buildings and the new connective addition. The gap between the original buildings provides a critical node for green building climate control and a lively urban assembly space. Its glass enclosure is therefore crucial in joining the two buildings to create a new architectural complex. The glass link encompasses the main entrance to the Wellness Center and Spa and stretches vertically to allocate 1.5 additional glass floors. This intervention allows an addition on top of the old factory roofs, providing a modern spatial quality to the upper floors. Through this mediation, the overall ensemble is optimized to solve multiple programmatic, climatic, and structural needs. The new glass façade is comprised of a patterned photovoltaic skin, which provides adequate shading and contributes to the overall energy conservation within the building.

The new connective tissue of the glass enclosure allows for a unique space within the old factory buildings. This renders a perfect location for a restaurant, which orients itself towards the new resultant plaza. The harmonious fusion of the new and old based on the dialectic between the glass façade and the old factory buildings create an attractive public space for the surrounding and newly emerging urban quarter.

Project Team: architecture - MCKNHM architects Mark Mückenheim in collaboration with Stefan Sous, Rafael Drzymalla, Moritz Schwarz | urban planning - 03muenchen | landscape - GTL Kassel

MCKNHM Architects BDA

MCKNHM is an architecture firm that operates within various cross-disciplinary design fields. For more than fifteen years, Mark Mückenheim, the founder of MCKNHM Architects contributed to building research and teaching in the field of architectural design. His strong belief that architecture is much more than a service and that architectural quality is able to deliver a surplus value that is capable of elevating how we experience and enjoy our life, is reflected in the way MCKNHM Architects are designing buildings for a wide variety of clients, locations and uses, intelligently and sustainably responding to the specifics of their site, brief and needs of the possible users.

MCKNHM Architects is working on architectural and urban planning projects that cover a diverse range of schemes and programs of various scales and locations. The firm's committed professional network includes architects, engineers, landscape architects, designers and artists of various intellectual and specialized design expertise. These selected experts are involved in every phase of the design and building process. Trough an intense collaboration within this network, MCKNHM Architects always strives to realize individual, innovative and yet sustainable and efficient solutions that oftentimes incorporate the use of up-to-date technology and knowledge.

MCKNHM Architects render themselves independent of any design boundaries or methods: each encountered assignment is different and is treated as such. The guiding force behind their work follows a conceptually driven design approach leading to a comprehensive design strategy. Their design work is therefore a resultant of intense project oriented investigations that is also reflected in the active engagement of teaching, research and the collaboration with different architecture schools and institutions. This integrated design attitude allows for the architecture to develop from the different parameters set by the client, site, location and the specific requirements of any given assignment. The way MCKNHM Architects approach a task is, that possible problems are not seen as obstacles but rather chances and opportunities to develop innovative, yet tangible solutions for the world we would like to live in.

MCKNHM Architects work has received national and international awards. It has been featured in various international book and journal publications and has also gained reputation through a number of exhibitions in Germany and abroad.

CV Mark Mueckenheim M.Arch. (USA) Dip.Arch. (the Bartlett - UCL) Architect AKNW BDA:

Mark Mückenheim is the founder and principal of MCKNHM Architects BDA and the co-author of the book "Inspiration - contemporary design methods in architecture" released by BIS Publishers in 2012. Before establishing his own architecture practice in 2001, he worked and collaborated with different architecture firms in Germany, USA and England, gaining extensive experience from concept to realization on various projects of internationally recognized design excellence.

Mark Mückenheim has lectured and acted as a guest critic at numerous institutions in Germany and abroad. Among other schools, he taught for more than six years at the distinguished RWTH Aachen before being appointed as a visiting professor at the TU Munich in 2009. His award winning work has been featured in various international book and journal publications and has also gained reputation through a number of exhibitions in Germany and abroad - most recently the house of architecture in Lille, France, the German Architecture center in Berlin and the 12th Architecture Biennale in Venice.

Educated in Germany, the United States, and England, sponsored by a Fulbright scholarship and a DAAD grand from the German government, Mückenheim received his Master of Architecture from Parsons School of Design, New York, and his Graduate Diploma in Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.

Glass Factory Conversion

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