Facade Finishes in Paper Museum | Sto

The Düren region in Germany has a long history of producing paper, its new paper museum shows off its history, standing out like an origami figurine thanks to the smooth, bright white rendered façade.

Bright White Render

The main challenge in the design for Hollenbeck Architekten was that the folded-paper white facade, should always stay white and can't yellow over time. This was possible thanks to the layer of paint StoColor Dryonic added to the render to effectively protect it.

The Sto protective coating was so effective at protecting the render that the budget set aside to clean the facade every two years remains untouched.

Embossed Facade

The three archetypes of paper processing were inspirations for the new architecture: the façade and window openings appear folded and the museum lettering was embossed on the outer wall. Depending on the viewing angle and the incidence of light, "watermarks" can also be seen on the façade.

The lettering Papiermuseum Düren, white on white, but smooth on rough plaster, catches the eye. In addition to the Latin script, a line in Braille indicates that the building also aims to attract blind and visually impaired visitors with its exhibition.

The Sto ventilated rainscreen cladding façade System (StoVentec R) was used because it can be formed into shape including a customized render texture technique which was used to suggest a watermark - an ingenious connection of not only the old and new Düren Paper Museums was made, but also a link to the material itself -