Herzog & de Meuron’s architectural studio has revealed 488 Kornmarktplatz, a curved structure that extends behind a neo-baroque facade in Bregenz, Austria, and houses both an apartment and a hotel. Situated on a square near Lake Constance, the eight-metre-wide building occupies the site of a 17th-century building that was left in disrepair after a roof fire.
Kornmarktplatz features a barrel-vaulted roof covered in white metal, which rises above the historic facade of the old building, the only element preserved by Herzog & de Meuron. “The walls and the arched roof are uniformly clad, forming a white metal skin, which is color-coordinated with the existing facade in light blue with white ornamentation,” stated the studio.
The apartment is located on the top two floors of the five-storey building, with a central entryway on the upper floor separating arched, double-height living spaces. On one side, there is a living room with views of the square and Lake Constance, while the other side features a kitchen and dining room with a terrace overlooking the Pfänder mountain.
“Generous glazing provides an unobstructed view of the lake and over the roofs to the ridge of the Pfänder, with living spaces and hotel rooms oriented towards the narrow sides of the building accordingly,” explained Herzog & de Meuron. A staircase in the living room leads to a roof terrace above, which offers views of the surroundings through a circular puncture in the roof.
The lower apartment level contains three bedrooms, an office, a bathroom, and a steam room. The ground floor of Kornmarktplatz houses a hotel lobby and function room, which can be separated by moveable partition walls or left open-plan to provide views of a courtyard garden throughout the building’s depth. Hotel rooms are located on the first and second floors, some of which feature balconies set behind the existing building’s facade.
The original structure underwent several modifications for different purposes, as stated by Herzog & de Meuron. The present neo-baroque frontage can be traced back to its time as a financial institution during the early 1900s.