Pappelallee 77/78-79
The heritage protected laundry factory on Pappelallee was extended in 2026 by Julian Breinersdorfer Architekten with a six-storey timber structure. Part of the Suhrkamp Verlag headquarters until 2019, the site is now used by a variety of smaller companies. The annex stands on the neighbouring residential plot and is accessed entirely – parasitically – through the fire wall, via the historic stairwells of the laundry factory.
The slender load-bearing structure of beech LVL was designed in collaboration with Werner Sobek; the cross-sections of the timber columns are no larger than a sheet of A4 paper, despite the charring allowance.
All building services, lighting and room-acoustic optimisation are integrated into a ceiling of the same timber materiality, so that the space can be used without further installations or suspended ceilings. The fire walls are solidly built of hollow bricks, whose colour harmonises with the reddish beech. The aluminium facade is set against this as a contrast in cool grey. Instead of windows, raised sliding doors mounted on a steel beam at parapet height were installed to optimise the use of space on the tight plot. The openings cut through the historic fire wall are carried by simple steel beams; the rough masonry contrasts pleasantly with the precise timber construction. Between the basement and the raised ground floor, a double-height space opens up, letting light flow deep into the lower level.
The facade opens the view onto the inaccessible, wildly greening courtyard of the residential plot. Here, a natural pond retains all rainwater on site, so that no water has to be discharged into the sewer system. Emerging in the middle of the inner city, the oasis-like biotope cools the building and provides important niches for the local flora and fauna.
CREDITS
project team: Kevin Scheurer (project architect), Stefana Dilova, Mario Wurm, Ludmila Schlytschkowa, Léolo Lawinski
developer: Marc Zollinger, GFG Gesellschaft für Grundeigentum AG
project controller: Thomas Glück, Esen Yildirim, GFP Deubner GmbH
construction manager: Thomas Richter, Heron Bau- und Projektmanagement GmbH
structural engineer: Konrad Freymann, Werner Sobek AG
MEP planner: Ugur Karaca, Frank Illgen, Planungsbüro für Versorgungstechnik Kleemann
building physics consultant: Christiane Ditzen, Werner Sobek AG
landscape planner: Charlotte Bierreth, Kretschmer Tauscher Sander Landschaftsarchitekten Partnergesellschaft mbB
facade planner: Carmen Herrmann, Werner Sobek AG
fire protection planner: Diana Ulbrich, SBG Sachverständigengesellschaft mbH
