Bauhaus is a legendary school of architecture and design of the 1st half of the 20th century. In 1932-33, just before the closure, she worked in Berlin, where her archives and museum are now located. However, this name, which can be translated into Russian as "building house", a hundred years later also bears another institution well-known to Berliners - Bauhaus AG, a large supermarket chain selling goods for home, garden and renovation.
Another store of this chain was built in 2013 in a prestigious location - on Kurfürstendamm street, but not in a more lively part of it, but on the site of the former Halensee freight station. Its hulls are lined up on a long and narrow stretch sandwiched between highways and railroad tracks. The railroad approaches them so close that the passing trains become part of the architectural image - as required by the program of such a strictly functional store. But the static and low "blocks" animate not only trains and cars. The buildings are equipped with unusually voluminous and “changeable” three-dimensional facades. This is exactly the case when the finish and quality of the material "make" the architecture, collect the scattered buildings into a single ensemble.
The project was developed by the German bureau Müller Reimann Architekten. The complex occupies a large and significant urban area, whose development was slowed down for a long time by the railway cutting through the center of Berlin. Therefore, the architects had to not only come up with the design of the facades, but, first of all, to solve the problem of including the complex in the urban fabric, to assess its impact on the environment, to think about how, through new construction, to revive, activate and functionally saturate the not very attractive space inside the powerful transport interchanges.
The complex consists of two main volumes, separated by a large ground parking. The main building is close to the overpass over the railway. Its entire glass facade looks out here. This transparent "widescreen" facing the Kurfürstendamm is like advertising the store behind it. It plays the role of a large showcase, showing interesting content and inviting you to go inside by all means. Thus, it is possible to interest the townspeople from a distance and convince them to turn to the once deserted area. The glass wall is hidden behind a forest of thin and impressively tall concrete columns that also penetrate into the “front foyer”. A similar transparent showcase is organized on the side of the parking lot, from where you can also enter the building. The extended facades are completely deaf, wrapped in a silvery metal shell.
The buildings are located on two levels due to a sharp drop in the relief from the overpass to the railway. The first is Kurfürstendamm street, the second, lower level is the mark of the buildings of the former commodity depot. Here the volume is reduced to three floors. And the long, horizontally elongated facade responds to the train line. It is opposed to the splendor of the entrance area, but its monotony is well perceived when moving - from the train window. The second, free-standing block, also has a small number of storeys and exactly repeats the style of the main building.
Of the few but striking details, in addition to a row of columns and beautifully illuminated glazing, it is worth noting a wide glass belt that transversely cuts the building envelope near the central entrance. Because of this, it seems that some part of the house is separated from the main volume. Following the laws of constructing a geometric composition, a flickering longitudinal line was drawn in support of the cross section, which can serve as a kind of media screen for placing advertising banners. It was possible to highlight it against the general background with the help of flat matte panels, while the entire mass of facades is sewn up with volumetric elements with a pronounced pattern.
Three-dimensional parametric cassettes are made of aluminum composite panels of the ALUCOBOND brand® plus Brillantmetallic from 3A Composites. In total, they cover an area of over 22,000 m². Each panel has a predetermined relief with convex and concave parts. Together they form a plastically complex surface with a repeating pattern - sometimes diagonal, sometimes similar to a honeycomb. The silvery material with a soft sheen reflects and refracts light beautifully, changing hue depending on the weather and time of day. The building is also transformed by the angle of illumination that changes during the day, which is why the general idea of the volume is always different. In addition to aesthetic properties, the finishing material also has a number of quality and economic advantages. Thus, the original ALUCOBOND panels® from Germany are distinguished by their low weight and excellent ductility, durability and reliability in operation, are easily transported and mounted on a metal subsystem over the insulation, and also have an excellent ratio of cost and performance.
As a result, thanks to the extraordinary solution of the facades, Müller Reimann Architekten has turned out in a good sense a "designer" and relevant project, which at the same time does not allow to forget about the strict functionality that was preached almost a century ago at the school - the "namesake" of the project client.
