Administrative buildings

Planning conditions:

The local authority had succeeded in acquiring property in the centre of Stade, immediately adjacent to the baroque town hall (1672), for the purpose of building necessary extensions.

The multi-angular nature of the property owed much to the structure of the mediaeval town and the land parcelling of the time.  Consequently, the new building had to be integrated into a heterogeneously structured milieu of historic plots.

The design had to take into account the well-pronounced gradient (10 %) and to consider the links, in terms of both construction and, to some extent, function, between the extension and seven different old buildings, all of which were built on land of differing heights and with different façades and roof structures – including the historic town hall.  In addition, it was important to preserve an ancient, mighty chestnut tree, a listed natural monument in its own right.  Another challenge was to accommodate as many parking spaces as possible without compromising the existing building fabric.

Urban design concept:

The town hall extension pays tribute to the nature of the buildings in the surrounding streets, which are typically individual houses, by taking up the given scale and structuring the facades accordingly.

Because the eaves run parallel with the street – a result of the building’s administrative function – the resulting expanse of wall is broken up into modular-like units by projections with textured reliefs and slightly varied designs, and by glass caesuras.  This design solution creates a structural ‘chain’ whose links resonate with the other buildings in the street, whilst still indicating the structural coherence and the proportions of the town hall extension.

The building is therefore a self-contained yet at the same time integral component of the urban structure, which borrows, reinterprets and transforms existing characteristics.

The town hall extension constitutes a number of different areas.  The plot was characterised by its relatively narrow access to the pedestrian precinct in Hökerstrasse, an important feature of the townscape.

In spite of the fact that being off the beaten track avoided a potential dissonance between old and new in the Hökerstrasse area and the preservation of the dominance of the historic town hall, there was no intention of sidelining the new building.  Consequently, the entrance to the extension is fronted by a small, intimate forecourt, accessible from Hökerstrasse and visible from Sattelmacherstrasse and by a number of renovated historic buildings.  This new entrance area has also been given prominence by a glass-ceilinged entrance hall, which is clearly visible from Sattelmacherstrasse.