One of the most challenging construction sites in Germany: ‘House of Cards’ Architecture in Battle for Materials

ATHLET and MODULAR universal formwork from the foundations right up to a height of 26 meters

Laws can be a real hindrance - especially if we’re talking about the laws of nature. Architects dream up designs with a complete disregard of these laws, and create structures that fire the imagination, and evoke emotions. It is quite simply, what we refer to as art.
Those, however, who are then tasked to make the architects’ dream a reality, do have to abide by all kinds of laws and regulations - and there are quite a few. If the architect’s dreams are at least moderately restrained, the contractor will have little or no problems to realise them.
If however, the design concepts borders on the impossible, with the laws of physics, material science, and logistics stretched to their limits, and then the men are separated from the boys in the business. And if you add an extra bit of cream on top - well, then you have the most challenging construction site in Germany: The City Theatre in Guetersloh.

Guetersloh. It all began with a political issue: Should the old, faded theatre simply be renovated - or should it be constructed completely new and from scratch? The city council didn’t take the issue lightly: they discussed, negotiated, and weighed all the pros and cons, before coming to a decision: what could the city of Guetersloh afford, what was needed, and how would the future of the city be affected? A year passed, then another, and then some more. In the end, two local companies with nationwide renown just couldn’t live with indecision anymore, and made the following decision about the old theatre: It just had to go. Considerable sums of money from contributions would be flowing directly into a fund for the new construction.
It worked like a charm! The ice was finally broken, and the planning phase could begin; suddenly, only the best would be good enough.
The client was the Public Works Office (Hochbauamt) in Guetersloh. The projected total for the construction: 23 million euro.