[ ACME ] Weilburg Terraces

The city council of Weilburg, Germany, a dense medieval city, organized a design competition upon the demolition of an existing parking structure.  ACME’s terrace design is a contemporary spin on the Baroque terraced-landscape building typology found nearby in the Weilburg Castle Gardens.  The form becomes an integrated part of the landscape, allowing the project to blend into the surrounding context while inviting inhabitation and managing to create “specific urban character towards some if its city context”.

The proposal, with a required program of 19,200 sqm, combines large format retail with higher value housing and more parking. Vertical routes are created at specific moments to provide “connective visual sight lines and public routes between the city center and river.”  Housing is dispersed across the overall massing and access is provided via new pedestrian cross-routes and lifts from the proposed public park landscape; retail spaces face the city center to attract passersby.

“The creation of new routes, public parks and a multitude of commercial and private programs ensures that the complex has a wide variety of uses, thereby maximizing its contribution to the regeneration of Weilburg’s historic core,” explained the architects.

The building envelope is structured in horizontal layers which gradually change into different forms of use.  Layers of horizontal stone “fins” filter daylight, provide natural ventilation to open areas, and provide sun shading for needed functions. Externally, the fins are used as steps, planters, benches and circulation spaces to create public routes and parks within the project.  Variations in the thickness, spacing and position allow the fins to form larger openings like entrances, balconies and windows so they can drive the overall aesthetic of the project.

from  archdaily