Wettbewerb Drachenburg

Competition Drachenburg & Waaghaus Gottlieben 3rd place

Today's building complex consists mainly of four main buildings from different eras and once with different functions. These buildings, which date from the 17th and 19th centuries, were converted into a hotel and restaurant from the end of the 19th century onwards and were structurally interconnected in the course of the 20th century. Today's appearance is decisively shaped by this functional interconnection and several individual building measures in the course of operational and design adjustments and changes in the course of the 20th century. In addition to the main construction phases of the rural baroque of the 17th century and the Swiss wooden style of the late 19th century, a reconstruction in the 1940s in the formal language of the late Heimatstil is also one of the formative construction phases that make up the architectural and historical significance of the building complex.

Various remodels in the 1990s interwove the building components, creating complex circulation and small-scale spaces that are not optimal for the building's economy and operations. For a contemporary and efficient operation and the implementation of the required space program, it is appropriate in our view to clean up and restructure the floor plan.

The approach of our project pursues a strengthening of the spatial presence of the four main buildings by demolishing intermediate buildings and cleaning up the roof landscape.

Via a horizontal distribution on the ground floor, all parts of the building are vertically accessible via stairs and handicapped accessible elevators.

This makes it possible to generate an inner courtyard situation on the 1st floor level.

The backdrop of the historic building ensemble can now be experienced not only from the village square, but also through an inner courtyard that serves as an extended lobby and provides all adjacent rooms with daylight, as well as an attractive view for all interior hotel rooms.

The façade of the new porch is intended to re-emphasize the two-part nature of the façade facing the Seerhein, as seen in historic photographs.

Following the decorative parapets of the Swiss wooden style, we reinterpreted the terrace parapet: The silhouette look is translated into a symmetrically staggered pattern of CNC-cut wooden elements. The intermediate building, which connects the Rheinecksaal with the Waaghaus and houses the production kitchen, also receives a cladding of flat wood profiles to provide privacy and daylight for the service area. The same principle was applied to the spa level. Here, the profiles are deeper, so that a view into the spa is only possible from the front. In addition, the panes can be made switchable with an electrochromic foil.