A place for culture, concerts and cuisine

Construction of the Aubinger thermal power plant began in 1940 as part of an unfinished industrial complex of the Reichsbahn German National Railway, followed by its eventual conversion into a thermal power plant in 1952 by the Deutsche Bundesbahn German National Railway. The centrepiece of the current transformation into the “Bergson Kunstkraftwerk” is the rectangular Kesselhalle, which was classified as a heritage site in 2007. The newly constructed foyer combines the striking building structure with a new extension, primarily housing a gallery for visual art, space for hosting events and a concert hall. The “Barbastelle” night club in the basement of the Kesselhalle is named after a scarce European bat, for which great pains were taken to preserve its native winter habitat there.

A triad of materials: brick, pudding stone and steel

The Kesselhalle measures 45 x 29 metres and is an impressive 23 metres high. Three of its original façades have been retained – the two shorter sides and one long side – and consist of brick masonry broken up by window walls measuring up to 18 metres in height. There were plans to add a further building section to the long northwest façade to generate electricity, but these were never implemented. The wall intended as the partition wall between the two buildings therefore became an external façade (albeit structurally unsuitable for this purpose). For heritage preservation reasons, it was only possible to incorporate additive thermal insulation measures on this northwest external façade. The characteristic window walls with pudding stone edging on the three other façades were restored in close consultation with the Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection and improved by means of trace heating made from copper pipework. The aim was to regulate the inside temperature of the natural stone components which run continuously from outside to inside. This would then reduce any thermal weak spots and minimise the associated cold downdraughts. The single-glazed timber windows that were present in the existing building were not worth keeping. In terms of the heritage preservation order, it was the extremely slim face widths of the oak wood profiles that needed to be retained.

Window walls with slender steel glazing bars

“The slimline windows contrast with the monument-like brick façade and the rough pudding stone edging, reflecting the transition from historical architecture to industrial modernism,” explains Markus Stenger from Stenger2 Architekten and Partner in Munich. To renovate the many window units, the planners opted for the slimline Janisol Arte 2.0 glazing bar system. “Key factors in our choice of Janisol Arte 2.0 were its small cross section, very high-quality surface finish and sharp-edged attachments – which, of course, emphasise the required ‘industrial character’ of the building as a whole,” Stenger adds. Furthermore, steel is an essential component of the design concept implemented in the Kesselhalle. The window walls with pudding stone edging – five of which are on the shorter side of the building and nine on the long side – each measure three metres wide by 16 metres tall, while the doors in the entrance area stretch to a total height of 18 metres. The individual units of these each measure 0.75 x 3.65 metres. Every window wall is made from an interconnected system of twelve units of identical sized vertical openings. Each of these openings is made up of the three-part window units from the Janisol Arte 2.0 system. For the window walls, which create a visual contrast in particular with the directly adjacent solid structure, it was possible to implement the desired detailing using Janisol Arte 2.0 – right through to the contoured, visibly screw-fixed glass retention bead. In addition to thermal insulation requirements, specifications for sound reduction and safety barrier loading in some areas were also crucial when it came to the glazing, which is why not all of the units have the same type of glass. Nevertheless, all of the glass was designed with sun shading properties, as it was not possible to install external sun shading due to heritage protection reasons.

An El Dorado for art enthusiasts

The aim of the Bergson Kulturkraftwerk is to become a sort of “El Dorado” for art enthusiasts. A broad spectrum of artwork from all media – from paintings to sculptures, installations to photography – is showcased across an area of approx. 20,000 square metres. In addition to this, there is a varied programme of concerts. The slender window walls from the Janisol Arte 2.0 glazing bar system make a significant contribution towards retaining the original character of the building.

Project details:

Client: Allguth GmbH, Munich
Architect: Stenger2 Architekten und Partner mbB BDA, Munich
Metal fabricator: Metallbau Knöpfle GmbH, Krumbach
Steel profile systems used:
Windows: Janisol Arte 2.0
Doors: Janisol
System supplier: Schüco Jansen Steel Systems, Bielefeld
System manufacturer: Jansen AG, Oberriet/CH