Himmelsscheibe Exhibition Centre
TYPOLOGY: Cultural
COUNTRY: Germany
CITY: Nebra
YEAR: 2004
COMPETITION: Invited competition
AWARDS: Special price
An observation Tower connects an archaeological dig to its wider landscape. Nearby the Corten clad visitors centre with its cargo of sky disk (4,000 years old sky map) paraphernalia wriggles a few metres above rolling fields casting at its extremity a laconic glance skywards.
Kaldewei Entrance
TYPOLOGY: Office
COUNTRY: Germany
CITY: Ahlen
YEAR: 2007
GFA: 550 sqm
CLIENT: Franz Kaldewei GmbH & Co. KG
PHOTOS: © Rainer Mader, Christian Richters
The small ‘signalising’ pavilion re-focuses and re-orients the visitors entrance to the main Kaldewei production plant. The pavilion stands like a bookend in relation to the original 1930s Works Facade of the leading manufacturer of enamel steel bathtubs. It connects to new reception spaces within the existing structure and to a planned administration wing.
The mass of the stone-clad volume projects acrobatically. Structural dexterity is not the issue, mass is here co-opted as a silent, announcing presence. The lobby behind is carved out of the existing volume. Meeting rooms hover above the entrance, the white stone of the new facade extends inwards as lobby floor and wall material. A steel spiral stair stands centre-stage and backlit by a dematerialised ‘Light Wall’. After the spatial expansion of the lobby, lower ceilings and an emphasized materiality of wood panels introduce a contrasting intimacy. The ‘Actor Stair’ leads the visitor through a short but complex spatial sequence. The spatial and material language here is closely related to that of BOLLES+WILSONs first Kaldewei building. – the nearby KKC (Competence Centre) 2003-2005.
Wohn und Stadtbau Housing Association Headquarters
TYPOLOGY: Office
COUNTRY: Germany
CITY: Münster
YEAR: 2004
COMPETITION: 2001, First prize
CLIENT: Wohn und Stadtbau GmbH
PHOTOS: © Christian Richters
Entering the city from the north, a straight road, at the apex of its perspectival triangle a silhouette of cathedral and other church towers. Progressing into this picture, slightly downhill the view is gradually obscured, the outer traffic ring crossed.
The next 500 m rise, not a dramatic topography but enough to awaken expectation – ‘up there I will be in the city’. Buildings on the right enclose and to some extent counteract the latent drama of this ascent, this arrival. The left is undergoing a transformation, a re-configuring, a chance for a modulated roofline to enhance topographic character.
This is the intention of the sculpted silhouette of the new offices of the ‘Wohn+Stadtbau’ Housing Association. Its crest location is critical. The structured plaster façades of both volumes do not just echo but enhance site topography and the drama of entrance.
Entering the building involves a counter and smaller scale spatial sequence. The building front steps back from the heavily trafficked street to a transparent foyer. The ground floor facilitates intensive visitor traffic, waiting spaces extend into the internal court and playground.
Ligor Rembeci
TYPOLOGY: Residential
COUNTRY: Albania
CITY: Korça
YEAR: 2021
CLIENT: Bregu Group
PHOTOS: © Roman Mensing
The original BOLLES+WILSON 2016 Masterplan for the center of Korça identified the Ligor Rembeci Quarter as a zone for careful insertion of new buildings in symbiosis with existing stone villas – this strategy – activating a block interior accessed by a network of passages – is now emerging with the recently completed Serenity Villas.
Von-Galen-Grundschule
TYPOLOGY: Competition / School
COUNTRY: German
CITY: Gescher
YEAR: 2023
COMPETITION: Closed competition, 3rd Prize
COLLABORATOR: wbp Landschaftsarchitekten GmbH, Bochum
GFA: 4.117 sqm
CLIENT: Glockenstadt Gescher
The design carefully combines the historic building fabric with a modern extension. The existing façades are preserved and linked by a central, wedge-shaped structure that forms the heart of the school with its cafeteria, auditorium, and foyer.
All areas are fully accessible, with outdoor spaces clearly defined: a large playground to the north, a nature-oriented learning zone to the southwest, and a green entrance courtyard to the southeast. The foyer serves as a central meeting point and hub, connecting classrooms, multipurpose spaces, and flexible learning areas.
The new building respects the historic architecture while reinterpreting its language in a contemporary way—creating a school that is open, functional, and identity-shaping for students, staff, and the city of Gescher.
