PASSIVE HOUSE STANDARD IN THE UNIVERSITY DISTRICT

The large ensemble of three houses has been state-certified as the first climate protection housing estate in Kleve. Its modern white facade, drawn by Hamburg architects nps tchoban sits right next to the harbor campus. The volumes of different hights and lengths are experienced as a unit through their consistent architectural language. In terms of materiality and colourfulness, the facade picks up on the existing themes of the university campus and places itself independently in this context. The character of the buildings is determined by the calm perforated facades with the floor-to-ceiling glass railings by Glas Marte – GM WINDOORAIL®. Furthermore, the building is given rhythm and plasticity through the staggered openings with printed glass balustrades, which give a differentiated physicality within a strict greater facade design.

The white bubbles on the glass railings of the windows, which are also used as ornaments throughout the house, are more than just decoration. In addition to the fall-arresting function through the self unhooking system*, it was calculated exactly how much solar energy may enter the highly insulated rooms, without the rooms being heated up. So the glasses, which are installed as railings in front of the windows, were printed. And they were put so close to the window that no beer bottle fits in between. „Cooling should be done in the fridge,“ according to the architectural firm Hülsmann and Thieme.

If impulse forces act on the railings, they are cushioned by a simple but very effective mechanism. Thanks to this safety function (coc), the glass railing can give way in a controlled fashion, if an enormous load is applied (as in the case of an accident, for example, when a person falls against the railing). The fall protection can then be automatically returned to the basic position.