Award for Exemplary Buildings 2020 – FRML residential quarter in Münster |

The Kreuzviertel is one of Münster’s most popular, but also most expensive residential districts.
A competition was held in 2016 for the 2,800 sqm plot on the corner of Friesenring and Martin-Luther-Strasse (FRML), which was originally occupied by an evangelical Reconciliation Church, to make affordable housing in the Kreuzviertel possible. The Apostles’ congregation had found the maintenance of the dilapidated church building too costly.
At a construction cost of 5.5 million euros, the new ensemble comprises 33 flats between 40 and 115 square metres. A noise-protected courtyard forms the centre of the neighbourhood. This connects to the small private gardens and provides a play and meeting place for all residents. The existing large trees on the former church property were preserved and contribute to the atmosphere in the residential quarter.

The light-coloured, slagged brick façades, bricked with Manufacta Stavanger, are intended to recall the ornamentation of the Church of Reconciliation with their relief-like structure. The double-shell exterior wall construction had to meet the increased sound insulation requirements. Ventilation is provided in the underground garage via passive systems and a perforated brickwork.