Light band in a historic roof-truss

Semi-transparent tile roofing allows for great roof spaces

Shopping, gastronomy, cultural institutions… these and many other components make a significant contribution to the quality of life in cities. But what would city centers be without the vibrancy of the people who live there and fill the streets with life and activity?

In order to provide city residents with the feeling of “freedom” and connection to nature, despite the restrictions of the dense built environment surrounding them, providing an outdoor living space through the form of a balcony or a terrace is a very desirable architectural feature. However in historic buildings this can be a challenging request to fulfill. In the specific case of the “Black Rooster”, it was of the highest priority to preserve the character and appearance of this architectural monument. In close coordination with the building authority of the city of Landshut, and the state office for the preservation of monuments, a complex roof cut was implemented, which meets the requirements of historic preservation, while meeting modern living standards.

We developed a system in which the light cut or the roof surface glazing is integrated into the roof landscape by means of tile slats arranged above it in such a way that, despite good interior lighting from a pedestrian perspective, the impression of a closed roof surface is retained. In order for the slats to be flush with the plain tile roofing (picture on the right), the glazing was not allowed to protrude (as with standard roof windows) (picture on the left), but had to be inserted into the insulation level (picture in the middle).

From the outside, a homogeneous picture of a closed brick covering is achieved, while a pleasant light quality is created in the interior spaces. The construction of the brick slats in both buildings is based on the use of so-called brick “baguettes” with a square cross-section, which are threaded onto statically supporting stainless steel round tubes. These were then in turn mounted on the corresponding sword constructions in the roof area.

The galleries on the upper floors support the lighting of the roof spaces. Together with the innovative, semi-transparent tiled roof construction described above, a lot of light is transported into the top floor, enabling use right down to the last corner. The extraordinarily high utility value of this exposed location also justifies the considerable structural effort.