Upper West Side halls of residence in Ulm

Contrasting window reveals in yellow-green aluminum and matching dark grey folding sliding shutters bring rhythm, change and color to the facade of the students' halls of residence in Ulm.

The idea of giving the residential complex high above the west of Ulm the same name as New York's "Upper West Side" was the result of a student competition. 300 rooms for students – split into 66 single and 38 shared apartments – were constructed on the university campus. The architects of bogevischs buero in Munich designed two virtually identical residential buildings, each surrounding a generously dimensioned courtyard. The outer walls are largely composed of prefab concrete sandwich elements. The irregular look of the facade's fair-faced concrete in varying shades of gray is visually striking.

The changing surface is interrupted by openings with a sharp-edged appearance: the window ledges and reveals made of powder-coated aluminum stand out 3 centimeters from the facade front and form a structurally expedient and esthetically appealing unit. The same material was also chosen for the 68 x 192 centimeter, two-leaf folding sliding shutters that are moved by HAWA Frontfold 20 hardware. A total of 684 window shutters provide customized shade from the sun on a facade that changes its appearance accordingly. When the shutters are folded shut they close flush with the reveals to round off the carefully detailed overall appearance. The choice of colors is as rich in contrast as the choice of materials: the color shade of the shutters is darker than that of the fair-faced concrete and the yellow-green reveals create a rhythmical complementary counterpart.