Former factory site of the Meindl brickworks in Dorfen

1st prize

LOCATION

South of the old town of Dorfen, along the railway line between Munich and Mühldorf, lies the site of the former Meindl brickworks. Large industrial structures and extensive sealed areas, as well as a relative separation from the neighbouring town, characterise the location. In the meantime, uses have settled in parts of the existing buildings and on the existing sealed areas. These, together with the memory of the production that once took place here and its remaining buildings, shape the perception of the site where a new urban quarter will soon emerge.

The existing site of the design is thus charged with a variety of atmospheres. The urban quarter being created here can benefit from this if the urban design succeeds in preserving the numerous effective impressions, specifying them and weaving them into the demanding task.

STRUCTURE

The design for the new urban quarter therefore retains selected architectural and natural structures that are essential for experiencing the existing atmospheres. On the one hand, this seems appropriate to the significance of the Meindl site for Dorfen's urban society. On the other hand, resources and materials that have already been used are reused and an important, ecologically positive impulse is set.

From north to south, preserved existing buildings are lined up to form the 'relict axis'. Parallel to this, the road development of the neighbourhood extends on one side and the 'Green Belt' on the other, which begins in the existing forest and is linked by the 'Leap over the Railway' in a foot and cycle bridge beyond the new neighbourhood. The relict axis and green belt are crossed by the 'water sequence'. It connects the new urban quarter in an east-west direction and, arranged at the foot of the slope, takes on ecological functions such as infiltration, retention and evaporation.

Less prominent in the current perception of the place, but with all the more potential for the future development of the site into a lively place to live and work, is the landscape space of the design area. The island of production is encompassed by rural structures. Particularly when looking from the northern slope at the chimneys of the Meindl site and the old town of Dorfen in the distance, the spatial expanse found here becomes perceptible. There is also landscape potential within the design area. In particular, the existing forest at the southern end of the marsh hall, as well as the adjoining rolling topography, create an almost idyllic impression.

The relict axis, green belt and water sequence divide the new urban quarter into four essential quarter building blocks, each of which reacts in its design to the potentials and challenges found there and takes up the atmosphere of the location in a differentiated way.

MEINDL CULTURE PARK AND TIMBER CAMPUS

The production halls of the brickworks have enormous spatial power. But they have lost their purpose, so it seems difficult to give them a credible new use in their entirety.

Therefore, the northern hall will be deconstructed and replaced by noise-shielding, commercially used, four- to five-storey structures. Parts of the supporting structure of the central and southern halls will be retained. In the forest of columns of the former halls, a differentiated open space is created that picks up on existing elements of the former production, such as the Ofenstraße. Omissions in the supporting structure make it possible to place new buildings that follow the structure of the halls in their orientation. In favour of the space-creating eastern gable wall opposite the Tonwerk site, part of the halls is retained in its entirety. Reduced to a useable size, the remaining hall segments will house the new Timber Campus. The interplay of the Timber Campus, special open space, student housing and workplaces gives Dorfen a small but atmospherically highly charged university location.

PRODUCTIVE CITY

The north-eastern neighbourhood module must react to the noise-exposed location along the tracks in its urban planning order and the uses located here. At the same time, it benefits from the close proximity to the new railway station and is the starting point for the planned subway. It therefore seems obvious to locate both an urban density of buildings and an urban mix of different uses here. Here, too, noise-shielding commercial buildings are proposed parallel to the railway. In the second row, these will be supplemented by mixed-use buildings. In keeping with the idea of the Productive City, large-scale production sites and housing are stacked in these and, through the respective orientation of these, conflicts between the uses are avoided. In the interior of the neighbourhood block, solitary, all-sided structures are proposed, which are reserved for residential use on the upper floors. On the ground floor, the design of the adjacent open spaces allows for flexible appropriation in a mixture of living and working in studio flats.

LIVING IN THE FOREST AND LIVING IN THE LANDSCAPE

The atmospheric potential of the two neighbourhood components south of the water sequence is clearly shaped by the landscape and the natural environment. The topography sloping down to the north allows impressive views into the distance, the dense existing forest conveys an almost magical idyll.

With three- to four-storey residential buildings, a modular development responds to the topographically challenging terrain. The east-west oriented buildings, which slope down following the slope, allow for an economical building depth. At the same time, their positioning creates exciting landscape spaces in between, through which the slope can be experienced. Despite the east-west orientation, the projections and recesses promote views down the slope into the distance. Typologically, the buildings were designed as modular houses. They each consist of a head building and a middle building, which are attached to an access module. The conception of the access modules as weather-protected but open means that even four-storey buildings do not need to be rescued by fire brigade vehicles as a second escape route. This means that it is not necessary to integrate staging areas into the demanding topography.