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The headland on the north-western shore of Lake Constance is a spot popular with locals and tourists alike. Shady trees line the shore, deckchairs evoke a beach atmosphere, and at the quay, the Lake Constance Shipping Company invites visitors to take a round-trip cruise. When commissioned by the Lake Constance Port Authority to design a catering and service building, Schaudt Architects therefore made it a priority to integrate the new building into its surroundings as discreetly as possible. The design is based on a focus on the essentials. The fundamental virtues of quality and high standards require no spectacle: a simple, rectangular hybrid timber structure runs along the water’s edge. With its pitched gable roof and diagonal supports on the exterior, it evokes memories of old harbour buildings, factory halls, warehouses or market halls.

Gerbil in pyrite grey

This reminiscence is also reflected in the materials and colouration: the timber used, most of which comes from the nearby Black Forest, has been finished both inside and out using ADLER coatings in accordance with a finely tuned ‘Color Synergy’ concept. The specially developed light grey-brown shade blends perfectly with the trunks of the listed plane tree avenue, with sand, reeds and jetties, with water and clouds. The contractor, Kaspar Holzbau, had the silver fir slats for the façade primed by Renchtalcoating with Lignovit glaze finish in the shade ‘Rennmaus’ and subsequently coated with Lignovit Platin in Pyritgrey. Erich Schillinger GmbH also supplied the silver fir and silver fir-aluminium windows and doors in the same colour. For this, the Aquawood Primo TG WF primer coat was tinted in a ‘Rennmaus’ shade using a variant free of active ingredients; this was followed by Aquawood Intermedio ISO and finally Aquawood Finapro Carat in Pyritgrey: the thick-coat glaze finish with a metallic effect shimmers just as beautifully in the varying sunlight as the Lignovit Platin glaze on the façade.

Perfectly coordinated

The same colour is also used on the other wooden surfaces inside. As an additive-free system was naturally required here, Lignovit Terra was used for “Rennmaus”, with the top coat in Pyrite Grey applied using the Lignovit Platin WF variant. The ceiling elements (Akustik Light by Lignotrend) were brushed by Fritz Baur in Bernau. Glued laminated timber and beams were brushed to match both inside and out by Kaspar Holzbau, allowing for flexible use: the floor plan, with only a few load-bearing reinforced concrete columns, can be adapted to a wide variety of requirements. Consequently, the largest area currently houses a restaurant, whilst the required public toilet facilities and the Lake Constance Shipping ticket and information area have also found their place. Whether inside the premises themselves or whilst strolling beneath the cantilevered roof, which blends seamlessly into the foliage of the centuries-old trees – at the Radolfzell pier, life can certainly be enjoyed from every beautiful angle!