Bi-folding doors Freising

The process was uncomplicated, the quality was good, and open-ended questions were quickly answered.

“

Master carpenter Stefan Hahn

About the architects

"We understand architecture as a comprehensively planned service that appropriately takes into account economic, ecological, local, aesthetic, and often also social and historical aspects (in no order of priority) – and at best brings them into balance."

Dipl.-Ing. architects and urban planners Kerstin Dantele and Johannes Dantele work with all service phases after HOAI: construction in existing structures, renovation, rebuilding, building conservation, modern timber construction, urban planning and energy-efficient construction.

A functional building becomes a landmark for the neighbourhood

The district town of Freising near Munich is part of the growth region north of Munich and has experienced a constant population growth for many years. In the southern part of the city, a new residential area is being created on a former commercial area with over 450 new homes and a daycare centre – the building site "Angerbogen". To support the local supply, Freisinger Stadtwerke Versorgungs GmbH built its own combined heat and power plant with a transformer station. Architects Johannes and Kerstin Dantele developed an impressive design concept for this functional building, creating a small piece of architectural jewellery.

The energy centre is located in a central location, directly on the eponymous Angerstraße, and marks the entrance to the new residential area. The triangular plot made room for a small neighbourhood square, which was further activated through a neighbourhood café in the new building. "The special urban planning position and the hybrid special function required a special form," says architect Johannes Dantele. His studio developed a basic form as an irregular pentagonal volume that opens up towards the city with its narrow front and contains all the technical functions of the building's "belly". The polygonal shape makes the building look different from any direction you look at it from.

The energy plant in Freising-Süd is more reminiscent of a modern church than of a sober functional building for heating technology.

Hybrid building with an urban feel

Balancing the different, almost contradictory functions proved to be a major challenge. At the same time, the plastic form of the new energy plant arose precisely from this hybrid application. The large generator that produces electricity requires mass for static and sound engineering reasons – which made concrete the obvious material. The 24-metre-high flue chimney was also cast in concrete and integrated into the sculptural building form. The height of the building is defined by the 80,000-litre buffer tank. Huge porthole windows attract prying eyes from afar and provide a view of the power plant's interior.

With its distinctive architecture, the energy center is an important building focal point in the development of the new residential area.

With a plinth on the ground floor clad in larch wood, the architects take some of the weight out of the massive volume. The strong façade in exposed concrete is finished above the wooden cladding with a cornice. This protects the wood and expands into a slender overhang in the area of the folding glass doors.

The café itself is a space of almost 45 square metres on the narrowest side of the irregular pentagon. In the basement there are technical and sanitary rooms. By omitting a floor deck above the ground floor, an unusually high room of about seven metres was created, whose almost sacral effect is emphasised by the night-blue wall surfaces. The sharp plaster edges were softened with hollow profiles to further dissolve the dark surfaces. A large porthole window brings daylight into the room, and simple pendant lights on long cables illuminate the café in the evening.

In addition to a high level of functionality, the Woodline folding door has homogeneous surfaces
thanks to reduced and covertly integrated technical details.

Bi-foldings made of wood: Bringing the outside inside

Despite the massive concrete structure and dark airspace, the café feels inviting and light-flooded. Responsible for this are almost 2.60-meter-high bi-foldings, which generously open up the space on three sides. The choice of materials was specified by the architect: larch wood was to be used to match the cladding of the facade. Based on positive experiences from a previous project, the contracted carpentry company opted for the Woodline Bi-folding door system from Solarlux.

"The handling was uncomplicated, the quality was right and open questions were answered quickly," reports master carpenter Stefan Hahn. It was particularly important to him that the folding systems function without reworking after installation. "When the preliminary work is carried out as specified by Solarlux, the systems run perfectly." The carpenter treated the profile surfaces made of multi-layer glued larch wood with the same wood oil as the closed larch wood panels at the rear of the ground floor, thus achieving exactly the same appearance.

The café can be opened generously on three sides with folding glass doors, and the guest room expands barrier-free towards the neighbourhood square.

Auch im geschlossenen Zustand bleibt das Innere dank der schmalen Profilkonstruktion von nur 143 mm im Flügelstoß lichtdurchflutet. Gleichzeitig bietet das System große Planungsfreiheit: Anzahl und Öffnungsrichtung der Faltelemente sowie die Kombination mit Drehtüren und Festelementen könnten individuell an den polygonalen Grundriss und die Anforderungen eines Gastronomiebetriebs angepasst werden. Die drei Faltanlagen bestehen aus jeweils vier bis fünf Elementen, die sich nach dem Ziehharmonika-Prinzip zusammenschieben und unter dem schlanken Vordach platzsparend parken lassen. Ergänzend integrierten die Planer*innen auf allen Gebäudeseiten Drehtüren mit Komfortverriegelung, die sich dank einer speziellen Drückergarnitur von innen und außen öffnen lassen. Der Trittschutz „3s-Protection“ aus Aluminium in den Bodenschienen schützt zuverlässig vor Verformungen und Verschmutzungen und kann bei Bedarf unkompliziert ausgetauscht werden.

The bi-foldings are opened on barrier-free floor tracks
pushed together and parked outside as space-saving narrow glass packages.

Construction board

Project name: Freising energy centre with transformer station and neighbourhood café
Place: Angerstraße 17, 85354 Freising
Completion: 2024
Constructor: Freisinger Stadtwerke Versorgungs-GmbH
Architecture: büro dantele, Johannes und Kerstin Dantele Dipl.-Ing. Architekten Stadtplaner PartGmbB, Freising
Landscape Architecture: ver.de Landschaftsarchitekten Stadtplaner PartGmbB, Freising
Façade design: SK Hahn GmbH, Unterdietfurt
Products: bi-folding door system Woodline from Solarlux, type of wood larch; Woodline fixed window made of wooden profiles, type of wood Larch