Background:
The „Architectural Award Building Integrated Solar Technology“ was established by the Solarenergieförderverein Bayern (Bavarian Association for the Promotion of Solar Energy) in the year 2000. It is one of the few international competitions at the interface between architecture and solar energy. The award honors the planning and designing of excellent building-integrated solar systems and showcases exemplary solutions in sophisticated architecture.
Project 04: Renovation of the church of St. Wunibald, Georgensgmünd
“Parishes for Solar Energy” was a funding initiative organized by the German Federal Foundation for the Environment (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, DBU), which initiated projects in 700 parishes between 2000 and 2002, usually involving the construction of PV systems. However, in many places this led to conflicts between church congregations and heritage conservation authorities, particularly because the design concepts were not always convincing. This is despite the fact that a large number of church buildings, especially from the post-war decades, require extensive renovation work. The Catholic Wunibald Church in Georgensgmünd in central Franconia is one such example.
The building, completed in 1966, features a large, strikingly steep gabled roof and a free-standing bell tower with its towering, pointed tent roof. At the suggestion of the church administration, locally based architect Johannes Wunram used the repair measures as an opportunity to install a photovoltaic system on the southeast side. This has resulted in
a homogeneously integrated roof surface using an in-roof system with precisely detailed verges, which harmonizes perfectly with the color of the slate roof on the campanile. In addition, the 78.4 kW solar power system generates around 77,000 kWh/a of electricity, whereby it is planned to increase the current self-consumption of “just under ten percent”, in particular for the new electric heating system in the church interior.
Johannes Wunram was honored for this project with a 2nd prize in the competition “Architectural Award Building Integrated Solar Technology 2020“.
Construction panel:
Owner/Operator: Kath. Pfarramt, Georgensgmünd
Architect: Johannes Wunram, Georgensgmünd
PV plant: Baumann Solartechnik, Rothenburg/Tauber
PV modules Solarwatt, Dresden
Completion: 2018