Roof construction from form to covering: projects and technical articles, grouped by roof shape and roofing material.
Projects such as the Federal Environment Agency headquarters in Dessau or the temporary residence of the Federal President in Berlin show: For more than two decades Sauerbruch Hutton have been advancing timber construction both in terms of materials and systems. How much repetition can a building tolerate - and where does architecture begin when applying serial production methods? Four modular construction projects offer answers to this question.
Housing for the homeless often consists of stacked contain ers. While the overnight shelter designed by Hild und K utilises prefabrication, thoughtful details adorn the robust building through which the Munich-based office conveys impres sions of warmth and home.
Timber room modules supported by a timber frame plinth construction constitute a pilot project for future-proof building designed by Riehle Koeth. They developed an ice storage system for use as a thermal battery.
In their restoration of the Monastery of Santa María of Sijena, Pemán y Franco and Sebastián preserve traces of destruction, rebuilding, and decay spanning 800 years. Recently, they remodelled the east and north wings into an exhibition space for the convent’s valuable artworks.
Solid exterior walls made of lime and rubble characterise the small multifamily house in the municipality of Puigpunyent in Mallorca. By storing heat naturally, they constitute a significant part of the climate concept.
The solid existing construction supports climate control and the related building services are concealed by a hand-moulded brick shell.
Dorte Mandrup is known for her idealism and an unmistakable sense of humour. Her ambitious building for the Crafts College in Herning, Denmark, promotes education and craftsmanship. The Copenhagen studio received an award at the 2025 Holcim Foundation Awards. Following the award ceremony in Venice, we spoke about concrete spaces, the freedom of hand-drawn sketches - and why sailing and architecture speak the same language.
The glazed atrium of the Guggach primary school can be completely opened by use of building-height sliding gates. Weyell Zipse created a flexibly usable interstitial space that changes throughout the seasons.
Aesthetics of the imperfect: A laboratory structure from the 1970s became a faculty building for the University of Twente. Four new atrium spaces provide the existing fabric with light, air, and green.
How did your office receive the commission to plan the kindergarten? To build public facilities in France, architects need to participate in a competition. They are open without restriction and consist of two stages. In the first phase, a team and its different professional planners is assembled, which then submits an application that includes its reference projects. In the second phase, the design is completed within about two months and awarded – a different procedure than in Germany. We were lucky that we were one of the three selected offices that were allowed to submit a design.
Football fans as neighbours: In Tampere, Finland, JKMM Architects created a striking hybrid block merging a stadium with housing.
The Alster Swimming Pool, a symbol of Hamburg’s postwar modernist architecture, is one of Europe’s largest shell constructions and an engineering masterpiece. The concrete of the hyperbolic paraboloid shells spanning up to 96 m is only 8 cm thick. The roof covers an area of 4500 m². Only three column supports transfer the loads of the self-supporting structure into the bedrock. A concrete tension member stabilises the two outer columns. Modernising and intervening in this sensitive system built in 1973 was no simple task. Digital tools contributed to the success of the project in a significant way: 3D modelling, software for planning building services, calculating building material quantities based on 3D illustrations, and point cloud surveys. Complete drawings of the existing conditions were no longer available. Interventions in the complex geometrical form and its filigree construction components were to be as minimal as possible. The shell roof is historically listed, just as the 10 m tall diving platform and the facade. Its aluminium triple chord columns were carefully tilted outward from under the roof, retrofit in the workshop, and built back into the structure. In the area of the upper connection, the planners also retrofit the existing telescoping cylinder support, which can absorb the vibrations in the roof surface. Contemporary triple glazing would have been too heavy for the existing columns. This is why the facade only features double glazing.
The large hall for water sports is located across from the Stade de France. It is the most prominent newly created sports facility of the 2024 Olympics and is among the largest global sports venues built in timber. The material efficient load bearing structure of the suspended roof consisting of glued laminated timber beams allows reducing the building's carbon footprint to a minimum.
The new trademark of the United Arab Emirates is dedicated to the country’s founder. It unites the nation’s history and future. Five wings up to 123 m tall, shape national identity and provide interiors with natural daylight and ventilation.
The architecture office Patterns converted a warehouse from the 1940s into a health centre with generous open spaces. The floor plan structure resembles a cluster, providing opportunities for changing services and flexible occupancy.
Peter Haimerl's new entrance building for the New Cathedral in Linz opens the church to the city, drawing on historical architectural forms through its vaulted design.
For the small single family residential building in Hinterschmiding in Bavaria, Buero Kofink Schels dared to experiment: Is it possible to build completely without cement, film, gypsum board or adhesives? The result was awarded the special prize in the Experimental Construction Category of the Detail Construction Award.
A hall with inviting character and comfortable atmosphere welcomes visitors in the new health centre in Copenhagen. Few are seriously ill, but suffer from excess weight, high blood pressure, or other ailments caused by unhealthy lifestyles. In the health centre, they receive counselling and take part in a broad range of sports and cooking courses.
Between the train station and the wild landscape, Clémence Mansons and François Massin Castan built their home. The timber structure is enveloped by wickerwork mats and rests on the ground floor construction of a former pavilion – a reference to the Toues Cabanées, the flat bottom boats along the banks of the nearby Loire.
The hall was renovated according to historic preservation demands by Itten+ Brechbühl and became the winner in the Roof Category of the Detail Construction Award.
An interview with Lukas Burkhart and Ognjen Krašna:
The refined shell offers spaces for appropriation and is a stepping stone into a new life. The Ten collective shows self-determination and resilience with simple means.
It became the winner in the Structural Design Category of the 2025 Detail Construction Award. Its system offers the students the opportunity to remodel their shared apartments by themselves.
With the new Fish Market, 3XN/GXN have created a landmark for Sydney. The elegantly curved timber roof spans the largest trading hub for fish and seafood in Australia.
The London-based environmental consultancy Atmos Lab investigated the bioclimatic performance of winter gardens designed by Lacaton & Vassal. Florencia Collo, Olivier Dambron, and Rafael Alonso Candau present their findings to us.
Advertorial With the extension to the Freiburg District Court, the state of Baden-Württemberg is creating modern spatial structures and a future-proof working environment – as part of a sophisticated urban densification project and sensitive integration into the existing historical buildings. The implemented sun protection concept also plays a key role. Warema external venetian blinds are used, which are perfectly integrated into the overall architectural design and harmonize functionality, security, and aesthetics.
Advertorial With an innovative building concept, the town of Buchloe is connecting multiple generations: A project aptly named "Multi-Generational House" combines various services and support offerings with residential units for young and old. It houses a branch of the German Child Protection Association, a family support centre, the local Diaconal Association, a youth centre, a holiday recreation centre, and, last but not least, the neighbourhood management office. The building is centrally located in Buchloe, not far from the train station, thus combining excellent transport links with a spacious, private outdoor area.
In the new urban district of Zwhatt in Regensdorf near Zurich, the 21 residential floors of a timber hybrid construction rise above a rammed earth plinth. The unusual facade features horizontal photovoltaic modules for power generation and sun protection.
Resembling a lightweight sail, the perforated roof surface curves above the spaces of the women’s mosque and the community centre. The loadbearing steel roof structure is veiled from plain sight.
In the small town of Saint-Méen-le-Grand in Brittany, a swimming pool had opened in the 1990s. Despite its public purpose, the building complex with its yellow rendered facades and multiple slate-covered, pitched roofs hardly differed from the residential houses of the town. And while it had been renovated and expanded multiple times in the last 30 years, the facility no longer met current standards. The building services were outdated and the render began to crumble off the walls. Atelier Raum demonstrated sensitivity in renovating the swimming pool, transforming it into a water park with three different basins and water features. The planners preserved the majority of the old structure and perpetuated the small-scale character of the ensemble. This demonstrates an approach that is both resources-saving and respectful in terms of the scale of the complex in relation to the neighbouring 12th century abbey church and the settlement patterns of the village.
A medieval tithe barn was the inspiration for the Faith Museum, designed by Níall McLaughlin Architects and built on the grounds of Auckland Castle in Bishop Auckland in Northern England. With the exception of a gable window that affords views of the castle garden, the new edifice is practically windowless. Cop Crag sandstone from neighbouring Northumberland envelops the museum for ecclesiastical arts from plinth to roof ridge.
Ludwig Zitzelsberger studied architecture in Munich and Zurich. In 2018, he founded his own office in Munich. An interview:
Working on the art barn in the Swabian town of Bobingen, the architect Ludwig Zitzelsberger enjoyed great design freedom. He turned the necessarily tight budget into virtuous minimalist nobility.