The Grey Box
Kegelbahn, the story
In 2018 KO/OK Architektur was commissioned to design the new Kegelbahn building for the 700 inhabitants of Wülknitz, a tiny village halfway between Leipzig and Dresden. The new ninepin bowling alley, located in the village centre, attracted a lot of local visitors during the build and has even become a social venue of sorts.
To stay within the expected - relatively low - budget, everything was pared down to the essentials. Inspired by the most basic solutions of industrial warehouse building, a mostly prefabricated timber structure was developed with a plain internal and exterior design.
The facade of the prefabricated construction is made of rift-sawn larch wood planking that is placed on a concrete basis and painted in a light grey colour that blends in an elegant way with its green surroundings.
Berlin red and petrol blue
The architects were eager to use Marmoleum, a material that fit in perfectly with their well-thought-out concept with sustainable solutions. The environmentally-friendly flooring with its bright colours combines well with the natural larch wood planks, white walls, and plywood ceilings.
The two outspoken flooring colours add structure to the rooms: the petrol blue floor in the changing rooms contrasts sharply with the Berlin red surface of the bowling alley. The latter's deep red colour emphasises the dynamics in the open 'club room' and on the four running surfaces. For the bowling lane demarcation, a black and blue-grey Marmoleum was installed.
Products used:
• marmoleum Walton | 3352 Berlin red
• marmoleum Walton | 3358 petrol
Rico Weser, the mayor of Wülknitz, calls Marmoleum “Smooth, bright, friendly and easy to maintain”. Watch the interview here
About KO/OK Architektur
After finishing their education with a collective graduation project at the Architecture department of the Bauhaus University in Weimar, both Jan Keinath and Fabian Onneken independently started working for internationally renowned architectural practices.
In 2016 they established KO/OK Architektur with studios based in Leipzig and Stuttgart. KO/OK creates lively and charismatic designs and architectural solutions in a collaborative approach with its constructors, with a strong focus on materialisation and craft.
Jan and Fabian were granted a guest professorship at the Architecture faculty of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 2022. They teach at the timber construction department, which was formed in 2002 as a scientific research and training facility in wood construction and wood architecture.
Design awards
The Wülknitz Kegelbahn design was received extremely well and rewarded with several nominations and awards.
2022 – National Award for Baukultur Sachsen | Honorable
2021 – Deutscher Architekturpreis 2021 | Honorable
2021 – BDA Max40 | Award
2020 – Nomination for he DAM | Awarded in 2021
2020 – National Award Baukultur BW 2020 | Honorable
2019 – Der Landeswettbewerb „Ländliches Bauen” | 2 Awards
With special thanks to:
Fabian Onneken | KO/OK Architektur
Gal Keshet | directing, filming and editing
Simon Menges | photography of interior Kegelbahn
Jens Gerber | team photo Fabian Onneken and Jan Keinath