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Architects: Auer Weber
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Photographs:Aldo Amoretti
Text description provided by the architects. For 35 years, the building of the district administration office, reminiscent of the great models of Far Eastern building culture in ancient Japan, has been an indispensable landmark of Starnberg. On the outside as well as on the inside, the administrative building presents itself as a modern and open authority that welcomes citizens in a friendly manner.
The challenge in the extension was to transfer the 35-year-old construction, materials, and details to the present day. The structural and energy requirements, which have meanwhile risen considerably, were to be integrated as a matter of course, but at the same time, the familiar image of the overall complex was to be preserved. The higher loads to be applied in the statics as well as the stricter fire protection and energy requirements had to be taken into account.
The southwestern area of the site was chosen as the location for the extension in order to maintain the existing permeability for the public from Münchner Straße to the lake promenade. The comb-like structure on the west side is continued in the rhythm of the existing building, thus making reference in scale to the neighboring residential development.
On the east side, the more spacious courtyard-like structure is supplemented so that, together with the youth center and the three-story meeting wing, a well-proportioned open space is formed. The western courtyards serve as retention areas for natural infiltration of rainwater and are designed as themed courtyards with boulders, gravel, native shrubs, and specimen trees, similar to the existing ones.
As in the existing building, the construction of the extension is based on a continuous 1.2 m extension grid. This also applies to the building services, such as floor tanks and ventilation outlets. This means that office rooms can be converted with little effort if necessary. The offices have an axial width of 4.8 m and can be used flexibly as double or single offices with a meeting area.
The extension continues the architectural concept of the building envelope but with a modern and highly insulated façade with triple glazing and external sun protection. Heating and cooling are provided by a component activation of the reinforced concrete composite ceiling (Holorib system) with a thickness of only 14 cm, which rests on larch laminated timber beams. Empty pipes for LED lighting and electrical installations were also inserted into the ceiling.
A groundwater heat pump is supplied by the new 250kWp photovoltaic system on the roof and enables CO2-free heat generation. The electricity produced by the PV system exceeds the LRA's own needs, so electricity can be fed into the grid. The legal energy-saving requirements were thus exceeded and a KfW 55 efficient house was realised.
In addition to the structural and energy improvements compared to the existing building, the extension also differs from its older brother in another respect: in the transformation of details. The subtle differences between the existing building and the extension are visible and perceptible in the corridor walls, the glass railings, and the façade, among other things.
