HOTEL AT ERZBERGERUFER, BONN, Germany
The new Hotel at Erzbergerufer is located just outside Bonn’s city centre in immediate vicinity of the River Rhine and just a stone’s throw away from Ludwig van Beethoven’s birthplace. Due to the mixed-use concept, including a hotel, a rooftop bar and dining facilities on the ground floor as well as the riverbank stage, this it not only a unique overnight spot for visitors but also a versatile outdoor space with added value for Bonn’s citizens.
Connecting the city and the Rhine
The building is perfectly embedded in the urban environment. In terms of its spatial configuration, it relates to the Beethoven Concert Hall next door and incorporates the close proximity to the river in the orientation and design of the exterior space. The approach of the urban master plan was to consider the ground floor zone and forecourt as a single unit with the aim of removing the barriers between the built-up area and the riverbank.
Set on the old and partially removed walls of an old bomb shelter, the Hotel at Erzbergerufer has been designed as a confident solitaire with a stepped volume that interacts with the differentiated heights of its surroundings.
In order to preserve the medieval city boundary with its many visual links, the shape of the hotel is guided by the position of the old fortified city walls. The new urban stairway helps to mould a continuous “landscaped ramp” that mediates between the level of the city and the five-metre-lower river walkway. This transforms the plateau, which continues into the hotel’s interior and is open to the public, into a perfectly terraced urban stage for live concerts, open-air cinema events, readings and other outdoor performances. The north-eastern corner sweeps back to enable pedestrians approaching from the south to get a glimpse of the Beethoven Concert Hall.
Facade and material concept
The hotel’s reception area and foyers are conceived as a fully glazed space that is designed to emphasise the floating appearance of the large structural volume above the entrance levels. Its material concept and colour scheme relates to the abbey school just around the corner. The facade that protrudes beyond the glazed base is rear-ventilated clinker brick with a reddy-brown hue. The yellow tone of the ceiling soffits – both in the interior publicly accessible foyer areas as well as the covered exterior zones – forms a perfect contrast. The painted finish of the drywall construction with cement-bonded panels outside is continued into the interior in level and colour. Thanks to the interplay of glass facade, reddy-brown brick masonry and the yellow soffits, the Hotel at Erzbergerufer is a real eye-catcher.
The hotel with its 214 rooms, dining facilities and rooftop bar can either be accessed on the city-facing side or the riverbank level via the fully glazed facade, which transforms the ground floor with its more public functions into a “bel étage with a river view”. The open stairway running alongside the hotel is extended into the interior of the hotel and adapted to incorporate seating. This is where the breakfast area is located with an approximately three-metre-high, floor-to-ceiling mullion and transom facade allowing views across the city and the River Rhine. Two outward opening doors connect the interior and outside dining areas.
The lower foyer can also be entered directly from the outside via a small vestibule, which appears as an extension to the staircase and also provides access to the dining facilities on the ground floor.
The interior
The broad open stairway inside connects the foyers on the two different levels, the riverbank and the city centre. Seating booths set into the stairs invite visitors to sit and enjoy breakfast or just have a cup of coffee. The levels with the hotel rooms up above are shaped in rings around the access corridors, that have been upgraded with landing-like extensions. The large single-pane room windows are set flush with the exterior brick surface forming a distinct contrast in the evenly perforated masonry facade. Inside, the window bays with their deep cushioned sills are a perfect place to sit and watch the lively happenings on and along the River Rhine.
The third upper level, the top storey, is set back on four of the five sides. This creates an extensive outdoor space facing east towards the Rhine, which is used as a terrace for the rooftop bar. The inner courtyard is planted with a range of grasses and perennials and functions as an outdoor breakfast terrace.
Sustainability
The Hotel at Erzbergerufer is set on the foundations of a historic bomb shelter. This was the only competition entry that retained the underground shelter and included it in the design. After performing some minor stabilisation and modernisation work, the structure is now used as an underground car park below the hotel. As a result, it was possible to retain and reuse large amounts of concrete and embodied energy as well as generate significant CO2 savings. The building has been awarded a DGNB Gold certificate.
The interplay of architecture, town planning and landscape design has created public space that goes beyond the required programme. It includes areas on private property, which are not only accessible to the public and function as a stage for concerts and other outdoor events but also serve as a terrace for the hotel’s restaurant. Other features, such as the access to e-mobility for hotel guests, the use of groundwater and the planting in the inner courtyard, are components of the future-oriented concept.
