The DAM Preis for Architecture in Germany 2023 has been awarded to Auer Weber for the Extension of the Starnberg District Office. Honoring yearly outstanding buildings in Germany since 2007, the DAM Prize has been bestowed by Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) for the seventh time, in close cooperation with JUNG as a cooperation partner. Fritz Auer and Dominik Fahr from Auer Weber as well as Stefan Frey from Starnberg District Office as the client's representatives received the award, during a ceremony held on January 27, 2023. This year's finalist projects included works by Allmann Sattler Wappner, ELEMENT·A Architekten and Hiendl Schineis Architektenpartnerschaft, Hütten & Paläste Architekten, and LRO Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei.
Located directly on the lakeside, the extension of the Starnberg District Office has managed to prove that older structures can have future viability. Designed and realized originally by architects Fritz Auer and Carlo Weber, after a competition held in 1982, the building's main inspiration comes from the 17th century Katsura Villa, the auxiliary imperial palace, in Kyoto, Japan. "The horizontal distribution of the masses and staggering of the buildings, which cleverly concealed their very large volume, the two-story structure with surrounding verandas on the upper floor, the roof overhangs, and the gently sloping roofs seemed suitable devices for the property in Starnberg", recalls Fritz Auer.
The original building which focused on forging a close connection with the neighborhood was extended by its original architects. Choosing not to incorporate the original areas intended in 1987 for future extensions in the east and south, the architects developed the modular concept further in the west. Some design decisions made in the past have been revised, but "the existing building and the extensions are largely the same"."A more straightforward and clearer architectural language prevails in the details, which take up the delicacy of the existing ones, but appear more professional and therefore less warm-hearted", adds the architectural brief. Moreover, the building meets now current technology standards, making it a CO2-neutral KfW Efficiency House 55.
The Starnberg District Office is a wonderful example of the very clever yet still rarely practiced further construction principle. The building’s qualities have proven themselves to this day. The extension has not lost any of that despite the technical challenges of the present. The users love the building. There’s nothing better that can happen to a building than that. -- Martin Haas, jury chairman.
Inspired by the harmony of the extension of the Starnberg District Office, the jury praised Auer Weber’s "interaction of the existing structure and the extension", despite the 35 years difference between the initial design and the modern intervention, and the architects’ attitude to "reflecting on their own work, reinterpreting it, and updating it in contemporary language"."Only a very close look today reveals where the old build ends and the extension begins, what tried-and-true and highly rated attributes of the existing edifice have been continued, and where things have been modernized in keeping with the time", explains the official statement. Infused with a new character, the intervention has updated attributes of the existing building while adding a new layer of contemporary modernization to the entire facility.
The district office confidently disposes of the trivial distinction between old and new buildings, which has only existed since the modern age. The permanent ongoing construction that this project so elegantly and casually celebrates used to be the norm rather than the exception in the history of construction. Continuing to build the structure according to its original design concept is a structural plea for the fundamental openness of architecture. -- Andreas Ruby, jury member.
Initially, the DAM nominated 100 remarkable buildings or ensembles resulting from extensive research involving an advisory board of experts. Later on, a jury of experts chaired by Martin Haas chose from a longlist of 23 projects a smaller number for the Shortlist for the DAM Preis 2023. A selection of three buildings designed by German architects and erected outside the country was also included for consideration for honorary mention. The five finalists of this award were the following:
- ALLMANNWAPPNER – Stadtbahntunnel Karlsruhe
- AUER WEBER - Extension of the Starnberg District Office
- ELEMENT • A ARCHITEKTEN / HIENDL_SCHINEIS ARCHITEKTENPARTNERSCHAFT - Bundesgeschäftsstelle des Deutschen Alpenvereins e.V., München
- HÜTTEN & PALÄSTE - Scheune Prädikow, Prötzel
- LRO LEDERER RAGNARSDÓTTIR OEI – Münchner Volkstheater
