The awards ceremony for the façade competition for 2023/2024 took place yesterday in the meeting room of Idar-Oberstein city council. Lord Mayor Frank Frühauf presented the owners of the winning buildings with certificates and cash prizes. The companies carrying out the work also received certificates in recognition of their successful designs. A total of 38 properties were entered for the competition, and the expert jury awarded six first places with cash prizes of between 250 and 600 euros as well as two commendations.
The façade competition has been taking place since 1983 under the motto 'Colorful Idar-Oberstein'. During this period, around 1,150 properties have been entered into the competitions and assessed by the jury," explained Mayor Frühauf. He thanked the owners for contributing to an attractive living environment by renovating their buildings and sees this as motivation for others to do the same. The mayor also thanked the jury for their efforts in evaluating each individual property, the city building authority for organizing the competition and the sponsors - the building trade guild, plasterer's department and the Idar-Oberstein home and property owners' association - for supporting the competition.
Dirk Thomé, Technical Director of the City Planning Department, then took over to present the award-winning properties and the reasons for the award. He explained the conditions of the competition and the criteria used by the expert jury to make their assessment. These include the color scheme, the relationship of the color design to the architecture, the craftsmanship, how the building fits into its surroundings and the overall impression. He also thanked the jury members for their efforts, as they had inspected the buildings as part of a tour.
The two awards in the competition went to Kreissparkasse Birkenfeld for the modern design of the extension to the Oberstein branch at Otto-Decker-Strasse 5 by painters Pfeiffer from Idar-Oberstein and to Obersteiner Baugenossenschaft for the redesign of the two three-storey apartment buildings at Saarring 20 and 21 in the Idar district, which was carried out by painters Schüller from Niederbrombach.
Sixth place went to Patrick Skulec's house at Rechstraße 40, where the jury highlighted the fact that the former pub had been converted into an apartment building, resulting in an architecturally interesting, modern building. The work was carried out by master craftsman Patrick Skulec from Idar-Oberstein.
Fifth place went to Jasmin and Sebstian Retzler's building at Kurzenbach 15, where the jury was impressed by the fresh color scheme by the Pfeiffer painting company. As a result, the building now makes a completely different, much more modern impression.
Fourth place went to the Tannenfleck 4 building owned by the Thomas Munstein family. The jury praised the tasteful new appearance of the attractive façade design by the Pfeiffer painting company. As a special accent, the entrance area was decorated with a stylized "M".
The three-storey building Auf dem Bilzacker 22 by Apostolos Tzanas made it into first place. Here, the previously plain architecture was cleverly broken up by different color schemes and the arrangement of a new loggia. In the opinion of the jury, the house from the 1970s was thus given an outstanding upgrade by the Pfeiffer painting company and enriched the cityscape.
Second place went to the historic building Nohweg 12 by Tobias Bill. The building from 1900 has a remarkable structure. The jury praised not only the excellent craftsmanship but also the excellent choice of colors. The bright façade design by the stucco business Leyser from Idar-Oberstein makes the entire building appear both light and at the same time as a harmonious whole.
The winner of the façade competition is the building Am Hessenstein 2 by Martina Wenz. The jury was clearly of the opinion that only first place could be awarded for this design achievement. The estate building from 1958 was given an extension to house the new access staircase. With the choice of colors, it was possible to harmoniously combine the two parts while at the same time emphasizing the individual design language of each building. Thanks to the design carried out by master craftsman Patrick Skulec, the building presents itself as a harmonious unit in a modern façade language.
- Photos of the objects and the jury's detailed explanations can be found on the city's website at www.idar-oberstein.de/fassadenwettbewerb.