A room with a view

The history of Kolbermoor is inextricably linked to that of the old cotton spinning mill. The factory was founded in 1861 and, within just a few decades, enabled the quiet little village to develop into a thriving small town. Next to the flourishing factory, the directors created an English landscape park – an enchanting paradise, hidden behind high walls and inaccessible for the local population. But that was all a long time ago. In 1993, the factory had to close, and the Spinnereipark became completely overgrown – until 2008, when it was brought back to life: the factory building was renovated and now houses a number of offices and flats. And the landscape park was also revitalised – today its southern section serves as a local recreation area. The final phase of the redevelopment plans for the area is the unusual project "Wohnen im Spinnereipark" ("Living in the Mill Park"), due for completion in 2025, which will be realised in five stages, using designs by Behnisch Architekten.

Surrounded by light

The architects have developed two very different types of building for the residential complex: The four polygonal "Conradty Houses" shield the area from the adjacent Conradty-Straße. To the south of them, the five "Y Houses", which take their name from the shape of their building footprint, will be integrated into the existing structure of the park as stand-alone buildings so that the current stock of trees can be retained. Each of the four to six-storey buildings has three "arms" stretching out from its core section into the green areas of the park. This design means that the apartments get natural light from three directions, as Florian von Hayek, a partner at Behnisch Architekten tells us. When the weather is colder, the building captures energy from the sun and, in summer, the protruding balconies provide pleasant shade. The longitudinal sides of the building have a wooden facade with closed joints which is broken up by playfully arranged windows. At the far end of each Y-arm, the building opens up with floor-to-ceiling glazing and balconies that run around each section, generously expanding the living area. At the same time, the differentiated arrangement of the balconies helps the building to fit into the surrounding park landscape in a harmonious way.

At one with the landscape

The rear-ventilated wooden facade of the Y Houses allows the residential buildings to be integrated into the park in a harmonious and respectful way. Espermüller-Holzbau from Kaufbeuren coated the rough-sawn spruce with ADLER's high-quality effect wood protection glaze Lignovit Platin in three different shades of brown (Granatbraun, Braun and Puma) – picking up on the look and feel of the surrounding trees, which create a shimmering play of colours as the sunlight changes. The vertical structure of the timber formwork creates a fascinating contrast to the striking horizontal stripes formed by the balcony balustrades, which rise up and down in free-flowing lines to complete the geometric design of the Y Houses. This highly unusual design, the coherent selection of colours and materials, the harmonious connection with the surrounding landscape, and, not least, the way the whole thing is embedded in a sustainably developed district: this was a mix that enabled the architects at Behnisch Architekten to impress the juries for the Iconic Award, the WAN Award and the German Design Award, who all selected the project as an outstanding example of contemporary residential architecture.