Historical Archive and Rhenish Picture Archive, Cologne, Germany

Object Type
Archives & Depots

Client
Stadt Köln

Architects
waechter + waechter architekten bda, Darmstadt

Completion
2021

Expertises
Building Acoustics
Sound Isolation

After four and a half years of construction, the new Cologne City Archive on Eifelwall has been opened. The modern and sustainable archive building is divided into the publicly accessible head building with exhibition areas and reading room, the adjoining shell building with workshops and laboratories and the central six-storey warehouse. The façade structure in the form of a "brise soleil" and venetian blinds arranged to protect against the wind give the building a high degree of transparency. At the same time, outstanding protection against solar heating with excellent climate stability has been created.

Thanks to integral building physics planning, high standards of acoustic quality were achieved while at the same time optimising the climatic conditions to protect the archive material both in the workshop areas and in the storage rooms. The climate concept developed by Müller-BBM Building Solutions for the storage building is based on a very high-quality insulated thermal envelope and the creation of extensive thermal storage masses in the storage rooms. Using extensive simulation calculations, it was possible to minimise the required air changes
and the associated system technology could be minimised in such a way that the building is optimally economical both in terms of construction and operation. Climate monitoring before and after commissioning shows that the specified climate requirements were met in full.

NRW Architecture Prize 2024

Image Copyright
1 Brigida González
2 Brigida González
3 Brigida González
4 Brigida González