Umnutzung alte Zeche Waltrop

The buildings of the former Zeche Waltrop 1/2 (pit) are an impressive ensemble of a pit’s surface buildings from historicist period.
The brick buildings were erected from 1903 by the Königlich Preußische Berginspektion (royal Prussian mining inspectorate) and have outlasted 70 years of mining operations.
The buildings have been listed since 1988.
Within the framework of the Internationale Bauausstellung Emscherpark (construction trade fair) , the surface buildings were renovated and new buildings added that all met ecological conditions.
The former machine shed, converted for the admin of the Manufactum company, is an outstanding example of a conversion of such an industrial shed.
The machine shed is a huge brick building with a floor space of 1,355 sq m.
Inside the 78cm thick brick walls, the new admin building was erected as a house within a house, with the inner structure keeping a 1.2m distance from the external wall.
Following this concept, the requirements placed upon historical monuments were met and, at the same time, a buffer zone was created that made sense in structural-physical terms.
The new, steel-frame, building has solid-wood ceilings and steel-glass facades which makes for natural light in the offices falling through the large windows of the machine shed.
The admin building is longitudinally partitioned by an alley of light stretching up to the fanlights in the ceiling, thus making the dimensions of this “former “cathedral of labour” a real experience.

Awards:
Architekturpreis für vorbildliche Gewerbebauten 2000 (WestHyp-Stiftung, BDA), Preisträger
Exemplary buildings in North Rhine – Westphalia 2000; Land NRW/chamber of architects NRW

Author: Editorial baukunst-nrw
Last changed on 06.10.2008

Categories:
Engineering » Energy
Architecture » Commercial Buildings » Offices