Alte Kelter
A multi-purpose house designed for working, celebrating, learning and living
After years of vacancy, the Alte Kelter built in the 14th century in the centre of Miedelsbach, a suburb near Stuttgart, has been revived. In 1959, Alfred Arnold founded his company, Glaswerke Arnold, in this historic building. Alfred Arnold played a decisive role in the development of multi- pane insulation glazing. Now, thanks to Arnold Glaswerke, the old wine press building enjoys a new lease of life. The building serves as a prestigious multi-purpose venue. It houses the Arnoldakademie for internal company workshops and training courses, and at the same time it is made available to the citizens and all other interested parties for festivals, concerts, industry events, exhibitions, and various other activities.
The historical charm of the Alte Kelter was to be preserved in the process of converting the existing building stock, whilst sustainability was to be ensured by achieving the highest possible reuse of the existing building fabric. Thus, the still functional components of the building remained in place or were refurbished. Existing components such as the old collar beam roof truss were removed during the construction process, temporarily stored, cleaned, and reinstalled.
Only those structural members that could no longer be repaired from a structural analysis and building biology point of view were replaced by new ones. Therefore, the timber framework of the ground floor, which could no longer be preserved, was rebuilt with an exposed concrete base embossed to trace the half-timbered structure of the original façade elevation. The existing entrance door was removed, refurbished, repainted, and fitted with new glass inserts.
This combination of historic building fabric and new elements created a sustainable building for multi-purpose use.
A box inserted into the space divides the interior of the Alte Kelter. On the first floor, this box of exposed concrete accommodates the necessary ancillary rooms (sanitary rooms, storage, technical facilities, and kitchen). A staircase integrated into the box leads to the gallery, featuring a lounge and a think tank space of the Arnold company. Here, the box protrudes as an all-glass construction over the mighty old roof and thus illuminates the interior space. The transparent glass partitions provide the opportunity to overlook the entire hall on the ground floor and the outdoor area at the same time.
The construction of this floor-to-ceiling glass box, which intersects the roof of the Alte Kelter, required structural engineering measures and thus interventions in the collar beam construction of the existing roof truss. For example, two existing load-bearing cross beams had to be split and the ties of the timber roof trusses had to be connected with new steel frame ties.
Despite the open roof truss and the materials glass and concrete, the space is not impaired by disturbing noises. This is thanks to the acoustic cladding on the soffit of the roof.
For Arnold Glas, the inventor of several patented bird protection glasses, it was self-evident that Ornilux bird protection glass was to be installed for all glass surfaces of the building envelope.
The combination of historical building fabric with modern materials and components defines the character of the Alte Kelter, a multi-purpose building designed for working, celebrating, learning and living.
