Augustinerhof and Future Museum Nuremberg

Nuremberg has one more urban building block. A new building complex, the Augustinerhof by Staab Architekten, has been created on the last large building plot in the old town.

Volker Staab and his office have developed the Augustinerhof Nuremberg entirely from the scale of the old town. The architects have thus succeeded in sensitively complementing the historic urban fabric. The seemingly dancing structure of the building closes the block, but at the same time opens up a funnel-shaped alley that connects the main market square with the banks of the Pegnitz.

With this newly created alley, the Augustinerhof is adding an important link to the network of footpaths in the old town. Among other things, this creates a circular route through the city districts on both sides of the river. Over the past few years, the Pegnitz has been gradually made accessible and can thus be experienced by locals and tourists alike. At one end, the lane leads into a town square on the riverbank next to the Charles Bridge. A flight of steps at the foot of the square invites you to linger.

Here, between the river and the city center, is the main entrance to the Zukunftsmuseum Nürnberg, a branch of the Deutsches Museum in Munich. Alongside a hotel with restaurants and retail outlets, the museum forms the third component of the Augustinerhof’s utilization concept. Staab Architekten designed it as a sequence of flowing spaces. From the foyer on the first floor, visitors enter the so-called Forum via an open staircase with three staggered flights of stairs. On the one hand, this central two-storey space with galleries and landings forms the communicative center of the museum. On the other hand, it is the starting point for the tour through the rooms of the permanent exhibition. Atelier Brückner from Stuttgart is responsible for the design of the permanent presentation. It extends over 2,900 square meters of exhibition space. Two further two-storey halls at the end of the tour provide the spatial link to the temporary exhibition area on the upper floor. Apart from three service cores, the space can be used flexibly. Large window openings let light into the new building and allow views of the old town.

A uniform façade made of light-coloured artificial stone therefore characterizes the external appearance of the new building complex. Based on the historical surroundings, the Augustinerhof was fitted with metal-covered roofs. Staggered dormers interlock the façade with the roof surfaces. At the same time, they echo the scale and building heights of the adjacent buildings. With the help of the windows, the architects mediate between the storey heights. Above all, however, they have covered the façade with an irregular orthogonal network of pilaster strips, which creates a reference to the medieval and early modern buildings in Nuremberg’s old town.

News from Germany’s capital: Architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners have created a space of silence in the BER airport terminal building. Read more about it here.