If this building on the corner of Dachauer Straße/Maßmannstraße comes to fruition as currently planned, it won’t find much approval in the district – at least that’s how Svenja Jarchow-Pongratz’s appeal at the most recent meeting of the Urban Design Commission was to be understood. You don’t need a pure office and business complex here, said the Greens politician and chairwoman of the Maxvorstadt district committee, “what we are sorely lacking in is residential construction”.
And she received support from the commission, which actually had to deal with the quality of the architectural design, but in this case also took a position in the office vs. housing conflict: the builders were appealed to “continue to pursue housing construction,” said the vote of the Commission on the construction project. In addition, Green City Councilor Anna Hanusch, who chaired the meeting, emphasized that the city administration wanted to help with the approval of housing.
The new building project is to be built on a plot of land at Dachauer Straße 92, where there used to be a BMW branch and where a gym and a supermarket are currently located, among other things. Client Georg Meier, whose family has owned the property bordering on Maßmannpark for decades, wants to construct a building with shops and offices that has a small 29-metre high point on Dachauer Strasse.
This is what the original design for the planned new building on the corner of Dachauer/Maßmannstrasse looked like.
(Photo: Bögl Gierer Architects)
The project was a topic for the second time in the urban design commission – and for the second time it was a question of aesthetic issues and the lack of living space. Andreas Gierer from the Munich office Bögl Gierer Architekten explained that the subject of housing had been re-examined during the revision. However, it was not possible for reasons of noise protection, not only because of the traffic on Dachauer Straße, but also because of the adjacent school and the playgrounds and sports areas. “These are not only children’s playgrounds, but also a streetball field and a skate field,” explained Gierer. He understands the pro-living argument, “but we don’t think the place is predestined for it.” He also referred to the fact that the city initially had a critical view of living there.
BA Chair Jarchow-Pongratz, who is also Chair of the Munich Greens, called the reasoning with regard to noise emissions “incomprehensible”. A school and playgrounds could not prevent housing construction. In addition, the property offers “enough opportunities to create living space in the interior, there is no permanent sound reinforcement from all four sides”. She sees this as “a great opportunity to combine living and offices in one project”.
However, it is doubtful whether she and the Commission will succeed with her appeals. Gierer said after the meeting that the builders had clearly opted for trade. And the city, explained City Councilor Hanusch, has “no possibility under building law to prescribe apartments. If there is no housing, that should be taken into account”.
Without the colonnades once planned, the complex blends in better with its surroundings
Architecturally, the Commission was happier with the second draft than with the first. At the high point, the colonnades have been removed, so that the experts believe that it blends in better with the surrounding buildings. The changed façade structure with only two colors was also well received.
However, commission member Piero Bruno, an architect from Berlin, also derived a desire for housing from the aesthetic debate, because he found the 40-metre-long block along Maßmannstrasse still too monotonous. “One can hardly imagine that it should be impossible,” said Bruno. “Perhaps you should offer some housing. That would be a win for the district, and you would have a reason to make certain variations on the building.”