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Zollverein Essen
School of Management and Design
2006
The
Building for the Zollverein Design School is the result of an
architectural design competition, which was won by the Japanese
architects of SANAA.
For the construction of the building, SANAA worked together with local architects. The building, which was opened in 2006, is located in the city district Essen-Stoppenberg
between a historical coalmining factory and the sprawling suburbs. It is positioned at the main access road to the area of the UNESCO world heritage of Zeche Zollverein.
At this location, the masterplan by OMA/Rem Koolhaas envisioned an urban attraction building, acting as a public building with landmark qualities. For the construction
of the building a storage-building of the railway company of southern germany had to be destroyed. So the new building is not truely on the grounds of the former coalmine
but is now considerd to be part of the ensemble.
The building has the appearance of a cube, in fact the building measures of 35 by 35 meters in plan and has a height of 34 meters. With these dimensions,
the nearly-cube is in the scale of the large neighboring factory buildings and stands in strong contrast to the much smaller suburban texture. The nearly square facades
of the building seem to be perforated by random square windows. A total of 132 window in two different sizes were used. Compared with the competition design,
there had to be made some changes for constructive reasons. In the competition design from 2005 there was fine mesh of windows with 3500 different formats.
In the arrangement of the windows, there are no alignments recognizable which would tell something about the interior structure. Unlike the appearance suggests,
the windows are placed not purely from an aesthetic point. The arrangement is influenced from a daylight simulation that took into account the use, the orientation
and the floor height. Only then the arrangement was slightly refined by SANAA. This refinement took into account the views of the exterior. Thus the windows
are concentrated in the opposite corners to the southwest and northeast. Most windows are located on the southwest corner, in the direction of the site of the Zeche Zollverein.
From the interior of the building views and impressions of the surroundings steady change. The doorways to the outside are all square and not uniform in size,
in order to keep the optical deviation as low as possible. The entrances are not emphasized at all, only gravel paths indicate the positions of the doors.
Dimensions and facade design give the building an intense presence, which announces the former factory grounds.
An extraordinary generosity characterizes the interior design of the cube. Lounges, library and seminar rooms are located on their own levels.
The only vertically continueing elements are three detached cores of different sizes and two steel supports. These two supports are necessary
to reduce the spans of the ceiling. The fifty centimeters thick flat slab spans between the four exterior walls and the three cores and
the two supports a maximum of sixteen meters. To reduce the ceiling own weight plastic hollow bodies were placed into the reinforcement.
All technical equipment of the building runs also through the ceiling.
On the ground floor is located a simple reception counter, a cafeteria and a free-standing, all round double-glazed staggered auditorium. Between the two glass sheets
is a curtain, to control insight and light. The inner glass layer is inclined inwards to ensure a better acoustics. For the rest of the ground floor the acoustics
is heavily criticized because all surfaces reflect the sound waves strongly. On contrary to the planning, the ground floor is the only publicly accessible floor of the building.
The upper floors are reached by one of the elevators in the largest core or the stairs in the two other cores. The first floor, with its ceiling height of ten meters is considered to be
the centrepieace of the building. The floor is empty except for a few selected pieces of furniture. It is to be understood as a multi-functional space. All over the floor are spread
connections for electricity and internet, so that each intended use can be flexibly adapted. This space can be rented for events on a daily basis or is used creatively
in connection with the training. The second floor is the actual floor of the students. White plastered cubes are placed in the space and contrast with the exposed concrete
of the cores. These cubes provide space for conferences. There are no additional walls on this floor. The third floor is used for the organization and provides room
for the professors and the administration. The fully glazed offices are accessible by a circulation corridor and they are conncted with each other over square courtyards.
The courtyards suggest the overlying roof garden. The patios belong to the exterior space and can be recognized on the top floor as openings in the floor, which provide insight.
The top level has a very sculptural character. Three large openings in the roof provide private outdoor spaces. In the actual planning of this attic should be publicly accessible,
what is not realized for legal reasons. In the attic, as well as in the mentioned patios, the planned planting is missing.
Another special feature of the building is its active thermal insulation. In the just twenty-five centimeter thick walls a 3000 meter long hose system is set in concrete.
Through this tube system runs about 28 degrees warm water, which has to be pumped up daily on the premises of the Zeche anyway, since the entire area would otherwise run full of water.
A heat exchanger of this water heats the water cycle of the school. The temperature of the walls is not used here for heating the building, but for active heat insulation.
The monolithic wall construction is to be understood as a reference to the existing buildings on the grounds, which are converted into single-shell brickwork.
The building was designed for the private Zollverein School of Management and Design. In relation to traditional standards, the building is considered as too large for its program.
This not only results in the mentioned urban impact, but is also a reaction to the building's programm. In the eyes of the architects, he exceptional ceiling heights were appropriate
for the educational spaces, particularly for the studio level that occupies an entire slab of the structure. This design decision resultet in an unusually lofty and fully flexible space,
which is enclosed only by the external structural walls. The private school never managed to attract enough students, so that it had to be closed in the years 2007 - 2008.
High cost of operations were considered to be one of the main reasens for the economical troubles of the Zollverein School of Management and Design. To make matters worse,
the utility of large areas is deficient for teaching. Certain areas had to be provided earmarked for the public financing. The seminar rooms are small, while there are
extensive mezzanines that are not to be used for training purposes because of their loud acoustics. The costs of actually usable areas are therefore even higher.
The local press summed up the lack of usability in the comment, "that the cube is indeed very nice, but really good for anything." At the Beginning of the year 2010,
the Folkwang University of Arts announced to use the building for its creative departement. Near the building was startet a new construction on behalf of the mentioned
university, which should be opend in 2017.
For the construction of the building, SANAA worked together with local architects. The building, which was opened in 2006, is located in the city district Essen-Stoppenberg
between a historical coalmining factory and the sprawling suburbs. It is positioned at the main access road to the area of the UNESCO world heritage of Zeche Zollverein.
At this location, the masterplan by OMA/Rem Koolhaas envisioned an urban attraction building, acting as a public building with landmark qualities. For the construction
of the building a storage-building of the railway company of southern germany had to be destroyed. So the new building is not truely on the grounds of the former coalmine
but is now considerd to be part of the ensemble.
The building has the appearance of a cube, in fact the building measures of 35 by 35 meters in plan and has a height of 34 meters. With these dimensions,
the nearly-cube is in the scale of the large neighboring factory buildings and stands in strong contrast to the much smaller suburban texture. The nearly square facades
of the building seem to be perforated by random square windows. A total of 132 window in two different sizes were used. Compared with the competition design,
there had to be made some changes for constructive reasons. In the competition design from 2005 there was fine mesh of windows with 3500 different formats.
In the arrangement of the windows, there are no alignments recognizable which would tell something about the interior structure. Unlike the appearance suggests,
the windows are placed not purely from an aesthetic point. The arrangement is influenced from a daylight simulation that took into account the use, the orientation
and the floor height. Only then the arrangement was slightly refined by SANAA. This refinement took into account the views of the exterior. Thus the windows
are concentrated in the opposite corners to the southwest and northeast. Most windows are located on the southwest corner, in the direction of the site of the Zeche Zollverein.
From the interior of the building views and impressions of the surroundings steady change. The doorways to the outside are all square and not uniform in size,
in order to keep the optical deviation as low as possible. The entrances are not emphasized at all, only gravel paths indicate the positions of the doors.
Dimensions and facade design give the building an intense presence, which announces the former factory grounds.
An extraordinary generosity characterizes the interior design of the cube. Lounges, library and seminar rooms are located on their own levels.
The only vertically continueing elements are three detached cores of different sizes and two steel supports. These two supports are necessary
to reduce the spans of the ceiling. The fifty centimeters thick flat slab spans between the four exterior walls and the three cores and
the two supports a maximum of sixteen meters. To reduce the ceiling own weight plastic hollow bodies were placed into the reinforcement.
All technical equipment of the building runs also through the ceiling.
On the ground floor is located a simple reception counter, a cafeteria and a free-standing, all round double-glazed staggered auditorium. Between the two glass sheets
is a curtain, to control insight and light. The inner glass layer is inclined inwards to ensure a better acoustics. For the rest of the ground floor the acoustics
is heavily criticized because all surfaces reflect the sound waves strongly. On contrary to the planning, the ground floor is the only publicly accessible floor of the building.
The upper floors are reached by one of the elevators in the largest core or the stairs in the two other cores. The first floor, with its ceiling height of ten meters is considered to be
the centrepieace of the building. The floor is empty except for a few selected pieces of furniture. It is to be understood as a multi-functional space. All over the floor are spread
connections for electricity and internet, so that each intended use can be flexibly adapted. This space can be rented for events on a daily basis or is used creatively
in connection with the training. The second floor is the actual floor of the students. White plastered cubes are placed in the space and contrast with the exposed concrete
of the cores. These cubes provide space for conferences. There are no additional walls on this floor. The third floor is used for the organization and provides room
for the professors and the administration. The fully glazed offices are accessible by a circulation corridor and they are conncted with each other over square courtyards.
The courtyards suggest the overlying roof garden. The patios belong to the exterior space and can be recognized on the top floor as openings in the floor, which provide insight.
The top level has a very sculptural character. Three large openings in the roof provide private outdoor spaces. In the actual planning of this attic should be publicly accessible,
what is not realized for legal reasons. In the attic, as well as in the mentioned patios, the planned planting is missing.
Another special feature of the building is its active thermal insulation. In the just twenty-five centimeter thick walls a 3000 meter long hose system is set in concrete.
Through this tube system runs about 28 degrees warm water, which has to be pumped up daily on the premises of the Zeche anyway, since the entire area would otherwise run full of water.
A heat exchanger of this water heats the water cycle of the school. The temperature of the walls is not used here for heating the building, but for active heat insulation.
The monolithic wall construction is to be understood as a reference to the existing buildings on the grounds, which are converted into single-shell brickwork.
The building was designed for the private Zollverein School of Management and Design. In relation to traditional standards, the building is considered as too large for its program.
This not only results in the mentioned urban impact, but is also a reaction to the building's programm. In the eyes of the architects, he exceptional ceiling heights were appropriate
for the educational spaces, particularly for the studio level that occupies an entire slab of the structure. This design decision resultet in an unusually lofty and fully flexible space,
which is enclosed only by the external structural walls. The private school never managed to attract enough students, so that it had to be closed in the years 2007 - 2008.
High cost of operations were considered to be one of the main reasens for the economical troubles of the Zollverein School of Management and Design. To make matters worse,
the utility of large areas is deficient for teaching. Certain areas had to be provided earmarked for the public financing. The seminar rooms are small, while there are
extensive mezzanines that are not to be used for training purposes because of their loud acoustics. The costs of actually usable areas are therefore even higher.
The local press summed up the lack of usability in the comment, "that the cube is indeed very nice, but really good for anything." At the Beginning of the year 2010,
the Folkwang University of Arts announced to use the building for its creative departement. Near the building was startet a new construction on behalf of the mentioned
university, which should be opend in 2017.