Revitalisation in the heart of Cologne's Porz district

House 1 offers 49 apartments and is the first of three buildings to be completed on the site. The materiality of the light-coloured brick slips on the facade is also reflected in the roof surface.
Photo: © Guido Erbring, Cologne, DE

A planning team comprising representatives from moderne stadt (urban development company and the architectural firm JSWD drew up feasibility studies and urban development guidelines for the site.The preferred solution was to demolish the ruins of the department store and to build three new city blocks.

Following demolition of the ruins of the department, and based upon JSWD drawings, the first construction work in the overall project involved the distribution structure for all underground car parks. This was followed by construction of the high-rise buildings, with three different firms responsible for their design and build. Photo: © Daniel Poštrak, Cologne, DE

Following demolition of the vacant Hertie department store in the centre of Porz, a district centre comprising three block buildings was created. These divide the public space into alleys and squares.

Aaerial photograph, © Bernhard Fischer Luftfotografie, Wickede, DE

The aim of revitalising the centre of this district was to get rid of the vacant properties that obstructed the meaningful use of urban space, to restructure pedestrian and line-of-sight reference points in the pedestrian zone and to create a lively, urban quarter.
Photo: © Guido Erbring, Cologne, DE

The functional mix of retail, residential and community facilities is intended to create a lively, urban neighbourhood.
Photo: © Guido Erbring, Cologne, DE

Solid construction with insulated envelope
The buildings in this new city block were constructed as solid steel-reinforced concrete structures. The concrete was poured on site. A robust, mineral-based external wall insulation system (StoTherm Mineral) with clinker brick slips forms the uniform outer skin of the buildings.
Photo: © Dörthe Boxberg, Cologne, DE

An external wall insulation system from Sto with 20 cm of mineral wool insulation was chosen for thermal insulation of these buildings, featuring a 10 cm thickness in the recessed areas. Photo: © Daniel Poštrak, Cologne, DE

The exterior surface of the multi-layer facade structure is finished uniformly with iridescent grey clinker brick slips. Photo: © Daniel Poštrak, Cologne, DE

Building 1 is clad on all sides with clinker brick slips. Their iridescent grey colouring represents a modern interpretation of classic clinker brick. Two different colours were used for the joint mortar to create a stronger visual contrast between the protrusions and recesses in the facade.
Photo: © Guido Erbring, Cologne, DE