Mensa Moltke, University Karlsruhe

The Student Dining Hall as rendered by the architect

Project Details

• Name of Project: Mensa Moltke, University Karlsruhe
• Client: Vermoegen und Bau, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Amt Karlsruhe
• Location: Karlsruhe University, Germany
• Status: International Competition - 2004, Realization - 2006
• Architect: J. Mayer H.
• Competition design team: Jurgen Mayer H, Sebastian Finckh, Wilko Hoffmann, Dominik Schwarzer, Ingmar Schmidt, Daria Trovato
• Project Realisation: Sebastian Finckh, Julia Neitzel, Andre Santer
• Design Team: Marcus Blum, Wilko Hoffmann, Jan-Christoph Stockebrand
• On-Site architect: Ulrich Wiesler
• Multidisciplinary Engineers. ARUP GmbH
• Kitchen Engineers: Martin Scherer, Darmstadt
• Building Physics: Dr. Schaecke and Bayer
• Landscape Architect: Karl Bauer, Karlsruhe

View of the dining hall

Mensa Karlsruhe - Floor plan [opens in a popup window - 43KB image]

The building derives its formal language from its context

The Building

The Mensa Karlsruhe is an elastic space that sits in the center of the Karlsruhe University Campus. Developed as an extension to the already existing facilities, the dining hall was built to serve the growing number of students. Owing to its location and innovative design, the building has emerged as the new landmark of the campus, negotiating between the identities of three universities in a site where the urban fabric encounters the Hardtwald forest. The response is translated by the architect into a creative pattern of varied degrees of porosity.

Credits

• Text and Photographs: Courtesy, the architect
• Compiled and edited by Manish Mehta