Weltstadthaus Peek & Cloppenburg

The new Peek & Cloppenburg department store in Cologne is situated between the “shoe boxes” in Antonsgasse and Antoniterkirche (a church) and the much-frequented four-lane ‘Nord-Süd-Fahrt’ artery.
The building is a arranged in two parts. Toward Antonsgasse, the structure is shaped like a cube and faced with a natural stone façade drawing upon the surrounding classical block architecture. At Schildergasse, this cuboid part merges into a flowing double-curved glazed wing spanning along Antoniterkirche to Cäcilienstraße as if cast there.
However, it isn’t only the building’s ground plan that is curved, the entire height is too, and sort of put over the core as a filigree glass casing. The striking end of the building is a transparent head building over the Nord-Süd-Fahrt.
Although the department store a striking ‘solitaire’, the adjacent church is actually rather accentuated by the Weltstadthaus. The department store seemingly withdraws in a huge curve.
The special thing about the five-storey reinforced concrete building is the glass skin spanning over the building like an umbrella. It is hung on a steel block and borne by 66 guyed timber binders forming a fan-like web system.
In fact, the outer skin is five metres away from the building in the entrance area and 1.30 metres at the back.
The overall impression both inside and out is an airy atmosphere that makes the spatiality kind of a live experience.

Awards:
Holzbaupreis NRW 2006 (Landesbetrieb Wald und Holz NRW, Landesbeirat Holz NRW, Informationsdienst Holz), Preisträger

Author: Petra Metzger (koelnarchitektur) / Editorial baukunst-nrw
Last changed on 24.11.2022

Categories:
Engineering » Structure
Architecture » Commercial Buildings » Retailing