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Architects: Andreas Ferstl Architekten
- Area: 4300 m²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:Sebastian Schels
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Lead Architects: Andreas Ferstl, Andreas Demharter, Anna Jacob, Peter Moos, Dennis Brandt, Maximilian Peter, Eva Hoffmann
Text description provided by the architects. The area of the former Nuremberg freight station is currently being under fundamental transformation. In the coming years, it will develop into a large office and retail district. The Kohlektiv will be developed to be the center of the new area. Back in the day, the head office of the former freight station was located in the building. The building stands for further development of the site out of the existing buildings and will serve as a historical reference point to the former freight station. Together with the planned new buildings, an advantageous (architectural) mixture is created, which has an identity-forming effect.
The existing building is characterized by a style of construction typical of the period in which it was built. This can also be seen in the facade. A reinforced concrete skeleton building, stiffened by the staircases, with infills of concrete and clinker bricks. Various decorative elements and the well-designed staircases complement the otherwise very rational architecture.
The design goal was to preserve the character of the building. At the same time, well-placed interventions, such as cleaning up the facade at the head of the building, are intended to give the existing building a new presence. The first floor was formerly used as a warehouse, and the facades were closed off. By opening up the facades and removing the disruptive elements on the first floor, a hall-like and large, column-free space is created, making the building more open and creating a stronger connection with the surroundings and the area in front of the train station.
After renovation, the building provides modern and highly flexible office space for various users. The upper floors were gutted down to the shell. Each floor is divided into three areas of use, which can be flexibly combined to form rental units of various sizes. Each unit is supplied with the necessary building services infrastructure at a central point. Sanitary rooms and kitchenettes of various designs can be docked onto the cores and supplemented with "service rooms" such as meeting rooms or storage areas. This central zone leaves the facades completely free for a wide variety of office layouts: from cellular offices to multispaces.
The building's load-bearing structure of concrete columns and ribbed ceilings remains visible in the interiors. These industrial components are complemented with colorfully designed walls and textile floor coverings; the design principle of "structure and filling" of the existing facades thus also finds its counterpart in interior design. A color scheme typical of the building's period of origin, the industrial components made of concrete, and the carefully designed interior fittings create contemporary, individual workspaces.
