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Wäschereiquartier
Wäschereiquartier
18, Dörnbergstraße, Vorderer Westen, Kassel, Germany
Finalist, 2026 A+Awards, Residential - Residential Adaptive Reuse Project
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Wäschereiquartier
18, Dörnbergstraße, Vorderer Westen, Kassel, Germany
Finalist, 2026 A+Awards, Residential - Residential Adaptive Reuse Project
Firm
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2025
SIZE
5000 sqft - 10,000 sqft
The Vorderer Westen district in Kassel is characterized by its Art Nouveau houses and historic villas.
The former factory buildings of the Welscher laundry, built around 1900, are located in a rear courtyard
of a perimeter block development, just a stone’s throw from Bebelplatz.
Querkopf Architekten advocated for the preservation, adaptive reuse and extension of this listed
cultural monument. As both developer and architect with a personal connection to Kassel, it was
important to the practice’s founder, Fionn Mögel, to create inner-city housing and re-activate this
derelict site. He acquired the heavily dilapidated factory complex, which is protected both as a listed
building and as part of a historic ensemble. Over time, the three buildings had been extended and
linked together with single-story annexes and workshop sheds to meet the growing spatial needs
of the laundry. By dismantling these heterogeneous utilitarian structures, Querkopf Architekten
distilled the ensemble back to its clear basic figure – and created a new, approximately 1,400 m²
green courtyard with a new access route from Dörnbergstrasse.
The heart of the quarter is the “Riegel”, the former two-and-a-half-story brick main building. Around
40% of its brick façades were reconstructed: 15,000 new bricks were tumbled, mixed and carefully
integrated. Pilaster strips and cornice bands structure the façade; steel-framed windows with mullions
in segmental and round arches, set in deep reveals, define the appearance. The side wings and central
tract were raised by one and a half stories and complemented with precise additions. The existing
brickwork retains the industrial origin of the site; the extension appears to grow out of it. It adopts
the original volume, sits atop it as a younger layer and remains clearly legible as a contemporary
intervention: corten steel responds to the brick with related tonalities without imitating it. Two
volumes become “typological siblings in time” – similar proportions, industrial character, patina. The
result is not duplication, but an additive, legible and honest continuation of the volume. “We wanted
to create a sculpture that transforms the industrial spirit of the place into the present,” say the two
brothers Fionn and Simon Mögel.
The atmosphere of both the compact apartments and the generous lofts inside the main building
is shaped by ceiling heights of up to five meters, tall vertical light slits bringing in daylight, and oak
parquet flooring. While the ground-floor apartments open onto private gardens, the upper floors offer
balconies and roof terraces, some with views of the historic chimney, which has been preserved as an
identity-giving relic.
Attached to the northwestern end of the Riegel is the former production hall. It slots in as a connective
piece between the main building and the 45-degree angle toward the neighboring development.
This one-and-a-half-story hall stands out with its white brushed render façade and white window
surrounds, clearly contrasting the brick of the main volume. Here too, tall workshop windows are
characteristic. On the southeast roof slope, facing the main building, large roof windows set into the
shallow gable roof bring generous daylight into the interior. The walls and roof have been upgraded
in terms of energy performance, and the old exposed timber roof structure has been refurbished. A
gable-shaped steel pergola spans the small outdoor space in front of the building and echoes the
pitched roof of the former workshop. As a fragment of the past, it has also been restored.
To the north, parallel to the main building, stands a single-story “Punkthaus”: a small brick building
with a gable roof that echoes the characteristic window divisions of its neighbors. Previously used
as storage space for the laundry and later as the first studio of the well-known band Milky Chance,
the building today accommodates two apartments where the charm of the past is still palpable. The
exposed roof structure with rafters and beams over 120 years old meets anthracite-colored industrial
steel doors with glass inserts and whitewashed walls. The contemporary interior design of the
bathrooms creates a striking contrast between old and new.
A new six-story building on Dörnbergstrasse completes the perimeter block development for the first
time and forms an urban gateway to the quarter. The residential building is clad in a ventilated corten
steel façade that wraps over walls and roof. Precise and monolithic, the volume appears almost
sculptural. A fine grid of vertical panels and dark horizontal steel profiles orders the elevation. Fullheight, narrow-format windows with dark reveals alternate with corten panels; balconies accentuate
the rhythm. Dormers are cut flush into the roof surface, with floor-to-ceiling openings and glass
balustrades. A restrained anthracite plinth accommodates the entrance, passageway and driveway to
the underground parking, subtly set off from the rust-colored steel above. This newly created address
houses 15 apartments and an underground car park with 16 spaces and charging infrastructure for
e-mobility.
Key sustainability aspects
Querkopf Architekten developed the 3,300 m² site with its three listed existing buildings, remediated
contamination and removed makeshift, unusable annexes, breaking up 1,100 m² of sealed surfaces
to create valuable green space. The original gross floor area was increased from 2,200 to 6,000 m²
through extensions and the new building – without covering additional ground. The compact building
volumes offer favorable energy performance; district heating is used and the KfW Efficiency House
55 standard is achieved. Green roofs improve summer thermal protection and provide additional
insulation in winter. Biodiversity and rainwater management continue on the ground level: private
gardens, fruit trees, wildflower meadows and shared green spaces promote species diversity and
water infiltration. Dedicated storage rooms for bicycles and prams, e-mobility infrastructure, barrierfree access and clearly structured outdoor spaces support a sense of community within the quarter.
The former factory buildings of the Welscher laundry, built around 1900, are located in a rear courtyard
of a perimeter block development, just a stone’s throw from Bebelplatz.
Querkopf Architekten advocated for the preservation, adaptive reuse and extension of this listed
cultural monument. As both developer and architect with a personal connection to Kassel, it was
important to the practice’s founder, Fionn Mögel, to create inner-city housing and re-activate this
derelict site. He acquired the heavily dilapidated factory complex, which is protected both as a listed
building and as part of a historic ensemble. Over time, the three buildings had been extended and
linked together with single-story annexes and workshop sheds to meet the growing spatial needs
of the laundry. By dismantling these heterogeneous utilitarian structures, Querkopf Architekten
distilled the ensemble back to its clear basic figure – and created a new, approximately 1,400 m²
green courtyard with a new access route from Dörnbergstrasse.
The heart of the quarter is the “Riegel”, the former two-and-a-half-story brick main building. Around
40% of its brick façades were reconstructed: 15,000 new bricks were tumbled, mixed and carefully
integrated. Pilaster strips and cornice bands structure the façade; steel-framed windows with mullions
in segmental and round arches, set in deep reveals, define the appearance. The side wings and central
tract were raised by one and a half stories and complemented with precise additions. The existing
brickwork retains the industrial origin of the site; the extension appears to grow out of it. It adopts
the original volume, sits atop it as a younger layer and remains clearly legible as a contemporary
intervention: corten steel responds to the brick with related tonalities without imitating it. Two
volumes become “typological siblings in time” – similar proportions, industrial character, patina. The
result is not duplication, but an additive, legible and honest continuation of the volume. “We wanted
to create a sculpture that transforms the industrial spirit of the place into the present,” say the two
brothers Fionn and Simon Mögel.
The atmosphere of both the compact apartments and the generous lofts inside the main building
is shaped by ceiling heights of up to five meters, tall vertical light slits bringing in daylight, and oak
parquet flooring. While the ground-floor apartments open onto private gardens, the upper floors offer
balconies and roof terraces, some with views of the historic chimney, which has been preserved as an
identity-giving relic.
Attached to the northwestern end of the Riegel is the former production hall. It slots in as a connective
piece between the main building and the 45-degree angle toward the neighboring development.
This one-and-a-half-story hall stands out with its white brushed render façade and white window
surrounds, clearly contrasting the brick of the main volume. Here too, tall workshop windows are
characteristic. On the southeast roof slope, facing the main building, large roof windows set into the
shallow gable roof bring generous daylight into the interior. The walls and roof have been upgraded
in terms of energy performance, and the old exposed timber roof structure has been refurbished. A
gable-shaped steel pergola spans the small outdoor space in front of the building and echoes the
pitched roof of the former workshop. As a fragment of the past, it has also been restored.
To the north, parallel to the main building, stands a single-story “Punkthaus”: a small brick building
with a gable roof that echoes the characteristic window divisions of its neighbors. Previously used
as storage space for the laundry and later as the first studio of the well-known band Milky Chance,
the building today accommodates two apartments where the charm of the past is still palpable. The
exposed roof structure with rafters and beams over 120 years old meets anthracite-colored industrial
steel doors with glass inserts and whitewashed walls. The contemporary interior design of the
bathrooms creates a striking contrast between old and new.
A new six-story building on Dörnbergstrasse completes the perimeter block development for the first
time and forms an urban gateway to the quarter. The residential building is clad in a ventilated corten
steel façade that wraps over walls and roof. Precise and monolithic, the volume appears almost
sculptural. A fine grid of vertical panels and dark horizontal steel profiles orders the elevation. Fullheight, narrow-format windows with dark reveals alternate with corten panels; balconies accentuate
the rhythm. Dormers are cut flush into the roof surface, with floor-to-ceiling openings and glass
balustrades. A restrained anthracite plinth accommodates the entrance, passageway and driveway to
the underground parking, subtly set off from the rust-colored steel above. This newly created address
houses 15 apartments and an underground car park with 16 spaces and charging infrastructure for
e-mobility.
Key sustainability aspects
Querkopf Architekten developed the 3,300 m² site with its three listed existing buildings, remediated
contamination and removed makeshift, unusable annexes, breaking up 1,100 m² of sealed surfaces
to create valuable green space. The original gross floor area was increased from 2,200 to 6,000 m²
through extensions and the new building – without covering additional ground. The compact building
volumes offer favorable energy performance; district heating is used and the KfW Efficiency House
55 standard is achieved. Green roofs improve summer thermal protection and provide additional
insulation in winter. Biodiversity and rainwater management continue on the ground level: private
gardens, fruit trees, wildflower meadows and shared green spaces promote species diversity and
water infiltration. Dedicated storage rooms for bicycles and prams, e-mobility infrastructure, barrierfree access and clearly structured outdoor spaces support a sense of community within the quarter.
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