Fellbach Central City

When we won the competition back in 1979, we were able to realise our first large-scale project. It involved the third stage of a renovation scheme which was intended to artistically mediate between the structures of the first stages. Both previous stages of planning reach back to the 1960s and are distinguished by the density of the buildings, which reach up to 14 storeys. They did not find much favour, among other things because of the exposed concrete that was used.

The programme comprises the city library, a bank, shops, apartments and an underground car park. We developed the new ensemble around an interior courtyard dominated by the library’s reading room. It was originally intended to construct a bridge to connect that level of the square with the level of the church opposite, but during the planning phase the implementation of this measure was deferred.

The above-ground sections of the building are laid out on a five-metre grid suitable for all categories of use. In this way, we could also respond to the varied requirements with an unvarying rhythm for configuring the façade.

The interior design of the library and the bank was also assigned to us. We had a free hand, from the teller’s counters, the customer service desks and the lamps to the pictures used for decoration. We regard the realisation of the shops – which was placed in other hands – as problematic and not fitting into the overall scheme. In addition, the bank has meanwhile undergone a substantial alteration by professional interior designers, which has disfigured the space.