Kultur- und Bürgerhaus, Döbeln, Germany
On 8 June 2007, it was “curtain up!” for the extension of the cultural and community centre of the city of Döbeln. The architects from the Schroeder construction planning office, winner of the architectural competition held in 2004, deliberately focused on accents in the extension. The design was not only intended to strengthen the presence of the Döbelner Theater in the cityscape, but also to define a new theater square in terms of urban development.
Accents can be set in a variety of ways. The Döbeln architects chose the contrast and placed a simple glass cube with opaque panes next to the old building with its playful façade ornamentation. Old versus new, playful versus straightforward, solid versus translucent – these keywords characterize the new ensemble of buildings in Döbeln’s city center.
Project data
Architect
Construction planning office Schroeder, Döbeln
Client
City of Döbeln
Vitrification
Glasfischer Glastechnik Berlin
Glass supplier
Schollglas Technik GmbH, Object Center, Heynitz-Lehden
Expansion for a pleasant working environment
The decisive factor for the theatre expansion was the previously unfavourable working conditions. The magazine for storing the backdrops was much too small and had to be used as a side stage at the same time. A smooth and quick change of scenery was difficult under these circumstances; and the adjoining rooms were also very cramped. The three-storey extension with a recessed attic offers space for the side stage and magazine, orchestra rehearsal, tuning room, cloakrooms, make-up and props – all functional rooms that are usually not accessible to the public. Consequently, it should not be apparent from the outside what is happening inside – another reason why the architects opted for an opaque strucural glazing façade as the outer skin, which is located in front of the reinforced concrete core with a perforated façade at a distance of 60 centimetres.
The extension to the culture and community centre sets accents
The 3.60-metre-high individual discs vary in width and are also held in place at the top and bottom with narrow clamping strips for mechanical securing; the execution of the glazing was in the hands of Glasfischer Glastechnik Berlin. An exception is the orchestra rehearsal room. It can be seen through a transparent folding glass wall and can be opened to Theaterplatz – this opens up a wide variety of possible uses.
Modern screen printing process for maximum weather and UV resistance
The curtain wall made of laminated safety glass is provided with a full-surface ceramic screen print by SCHOLLGLAS. The screen printing ink “Side One” is particularly characterized by its weather and UV resistance. Applying the paint to the weather side of the glass panes creates a matt appearance and there are no reflections on the outer skin. Screen printing makes it possible to illuminate the rooms naturally without providing views from the outside – only shadowy contours emerge on the glass outer skin. In order to loosen up the two-dimensional effect of the façade and signal openness, narrow glass strips were interspersed seemingly arbitrarily without printing.
The extension is not only a benefit for the theatre, which has been running much more smoothly since the new areas have been used; the urban space is also significantly enhanced by the glass cube, but without stealing the show from the main building.
