Study Better

2023 Author: Hannah Pearcy | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 11:39

Buildings with eye-catching exterior designs are more popular with most students than drab blocks of flats. A professional color scheme for the Freiwasser student housing complex in Eichstätt shows that strong tones make the houses appear more lively. There are around 5000 students for every 13,000 inhabitants in the Upper Bavarian town of Eichstätt. The "Big County Town" is the bishopric of the diocese of Eichstätt, the young people study at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (KU), the only Catholic university in Germany. The KU is one of the largest non-governmental universities in Germany. It offers over 40 study subjects. Students find rooms and apartments at private providers or in dormitories that are either non-profit or privately funded,like the Freiwasser residential complex on Freiwasser 5–7 or Gundekarstraße 12–22. There are a total of 274 apartments between 20 and 27 square meters in size. Klara Bernhofer Hausverwaltung GmbH takes care of the maintenance and rental of private condominiums. The residential complex is located in the middle of the Altmühl Valley, below Willibaldsburg Castle, five to ten minutes to the city center and 20 minutes to the Catholic University on foot. Color instead of sadness The six elongated, three- to four-storey apartment blocks of the Freiwasser residential area, built in 1992, have a modern design. With their moderate height and the wide roof overhang on the end faces, the individual buildings appear friendly and the residential complex as a whole is harmonious. Loggias and balconies with steel structures loosen up the facades. The facility comprises two main buildings, each with a cross bar attached to the front, flanked by four outbuildings in a row. Before the redesign, the longitudinal buildings were kept in white and the corner buildings in strong red. The blocks looked very solid. When a new coat of paint was needed after 20 years, the owners wanted a friendlier color scheme. Sales representative Nico Schütze remembers: "The paint looked far too dreary for a student housing complex, and the architecture, which was interesting in itself, was not properly staged." In addition, a strong color scheme was to ensure that students actually move in and the apartments are good are occupied. The choice of facade material was not a question. After the property management and the painting company had years of very good experience with ThermoSan, this should be used in the redesign. The Caparol Color Design Studio was entrusted with the color design. Color concept outside A design was implemented that was also favored by master painter Christian Rott with his professional sense of color: "I liked the concept very much and it was a pleasure to beautify the residential complex according to these specifications," he says. The well thought-out color concept by the designer Gudrun Kabel ensures a harmonious overall picture. At the same time, the coloring loosens up the ensemble and gives each building its individual character. Bold orange and red tones in contrast with light and dark gray characterize the two main buildings and crossbars. The white supportsRailings and partitions clearly stand out from the loggias in the shade. “When I looked at the residence for the first time, everything looked very bleak. It was clear to me that there was a lack of color here, and also of strong tones. In the loggias, red and orange tones were possible because the distance between the buildings is large enough,”explains Kabel. The four outbuildings, which are closer together, are differentiated by different facade colors in yellow, yellow-green, green-blue and blue. The colors have similar saturation levels, which creates a calm four-tone color. These colors can only be found on one side of the building and on the front. The colors are clearly visible from the street, so that passers-by can also enjoy the play of colors. The backs of the cross-bar structures are painted in a light cream color so that the closely spaced building bars do not look too colorful. Here, however, the steel structures of the balconies stand out in intense lacquer tones, which at the same time correspond to the respective facade color of the front. On the two-storey apartment buildings with white facades, round columns set accents in dark red on the corner balconies. The higher, tower-like corner buildings were kept in a light, subtle gray so as not to emphasize them too much. Strong accents inside After everything had become so beautifully colored on the outside, the design of the stairwells followed a year later. “There was a dark floor inside and side stairs in green. The walls were all white. The contrast was very hardthe mood was cool and not inviting,”recalls designer Martina Lehmann. The task of the color designers was to upgrade the staircase and the entrance area of the main building so that these areas appear more inviting and correspond to the exterior color scheme. "We chose a delicate, very light shade of green for the main walls, plus accent walls in red and orange, like the loggia facades on the main buildings," says Lehmann. The red and orange extend from the inside into the external access areas. The red wall leads to the red wing with the red loggias, the orange wall leads to the orange wing with an arcade of the same color. These accents also offer an orientation function. A striking feature is an oval, very solid support in the entrance area. So that it doesn't appear too powerful,the designers proposed a light color scheme. A creative design technique subtly underlines the striking support: a glossy base coat in 3D Verona 85 is followed by a glossy coating with a transparent Deco glaze, enriched with effect pigments in silver (three percent). The brushed application creates a shimmering, shimmering effect. The effect is particularly effective due to the oval shape and the side light. “The light accentuates the powerful accent wall surfaces to reflect colored warm light into the room. The effect is enormous! This creates a lively atmosphere,”describes Lehmann. The strong wall accents also provide a visual limitation."When it came to choosing the material, the property management company made no compromises and opted for our high-quality rail with the highly durable and cleanable products for stressed areas, PremiumClean and the abrasion-resistant PremiumColor in the dark red shade, as well as Dispopur 458 PU AquaSiegel, a transparent, watery 2K - Polyurethane resin for matt sealing,”reports Nico Schütze.

CONSTRUCTION PANEL

Object: Student housing complex Freiwasser in Eichstätt Client: WEG Gundekarstr./Freiwasser represent. D. HVW Bernhofer, Bernd Müller Color concept: Caparol FarbDesignStudio, qualified designers Martina Lehmann and Gudrun Kabel Caparol Field service: Nico Schütze Processor: Maler Rott GmbH, Kösching-Interpark Products inside: Indeko-plus, PremiumClean, PremiumColor, silk latex, Disbopur 458 PU-AquaSiegel, Capadecor DecoLasur products outside: ThermoSan, Capalac thick film lacquer www.caparol.de