The winners have been announced for the Germany/Austria/Switzerland section of the Aluminium in Renovation Award, a competition developed by Düsseldorf-based GDA – Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e.V. in co-operation with the Brussels-based European Aluminium Association (EAA); from the numerous entries the jury has chosen a winner for each of the main categories, “Residential” and “Non-residential”.


The winners are:

Nething Generalplaner from Neu-Ulm
with the entry “LoftLiving Ackermannfabrik Augsburg” (Loft Accommodation at the Ackermann Factory in Augsburg) in the “Residential” category

and

the CODE UNIQUE architectural partnership from Dresden
with the entry “Hochschule für Bildende Künste” (Academy for Visual Arts) in the “Non-residential” category.

The European Aluminium in Renovation Award 2009 was given for building renovation and refurbishment projects in which aluminium was used in a sensible and innovative manner and which were carried out after 1 January 2006. Besides architects, principals or property owners, project developers and building-engineers were allowed to enter. The prize was awarded in two categories, each with a cash prize of 3500 euros. The winners qualify automatically for the European competition.

The jury for the national competition consisted of representatives of the building industry, the aluminium industry and the trade press in Germany. It included Thomas Maria Ladwein, Karcher & Ladwein Ingenieur-Partnerschaft für Bautechnik based in Korschenbroich, Alwin Schmitt, editor-in-chief of the journal Aluminium Praxis and Anncathrin Wener, who is in charge of PR at GDA.

In the competition, aluminium in renovation was interpreted in a very broad sense. It covered renovation as well as refurbishment and reconstruction provided the former structure of the building had been maintained, i.e. the function of an existing building had been changed, e.g. when a warehouse had been turned into apartments.

1st prize in “Residential” category
Nething Generalplaner Ulm/Neu-Ulm GmbH, Neu-Ulm

Entry: LoftLiving Ackermannfabrik Augsburg (Loft Accommodation at the Ackermann Factory in Augsburg)
The new aluminium windows and doors add a modern touch to the former textile factory whilst taking building conservation aspects into consideration. The special shape of the window profiles resembles the appearance of the previous steel windows. With a Uw value of 1.5 W/(m2·K) the windows achieve a level of insulation geared to future requirements.

Reason for the jury’s decision: The jury was impressed here with the aesthetic use of the material taking as it does the existing building substance into consideration: the high windows with their narrow profiles still let in the daylight, something that was so important for the interior of the former textile factory; the modern window profile contributes to a level of thermal insulation geared to future requirements.

1st prize “Non-residential” category
CODE UNIQUE, Dresden

Entry: Hochschule für Bildende Künste (Academy for Visual Arts)
The arrangement of the composite aluminium panels as an optical roof covering gives the metallic covering skin a smooth appearance that creates an exciting relationship between the historical building substance and the technically modern roof design and links the individual wings of the whole complex.

Reason for jury’s decision: What impressed the jury here was the unusual design of the roofing, which comprises composite aluminium panels arranged on top of profiled aluminium sheeting. Besides innovative detailed solutions for the connections to the solar shading elements, the complex overall construction is characterised by a ventilation space that is physically extremely efficient. From an aesthetic point of view, particular attention has also been given to smoothly integrating the photovoltaic modules.

Both entries are automatically nominated for the European competition in Brussels.