What began with a few low-budget projects is still guided by the same principles today: to build simply, purposefully and resource-consciously. From the outset, the practice has never aspired to developing a recognisable design vocabulary. Instead, it focuses on reading the site, on a deep understanding of scale, topology, history and neighbourhood. Context is the compass, not the backdrop. The projects in Myanmar, where a+r collaborated with local craftspeople and villagers to evolve regional building techniques, exemplify this approach.

From the mid-1990s onwards, urban planning issues came increasingly into focus: How can public, semi-public and private spaces be interwoven? How can high-quality, urban open spaces be created that encourage social intermixing and an open urban society? Milestone housing projects such as the Rosenstein Quarter in Stuttgart – regarded as a model for sustainable urban development – have shaped the practice’s direction and public profile. Over the years, a number of educational buildings have followed, each with their own specific requirements. A characteristic example is the grammar school with sports hall and youth centre in Frankfurt-Riedberg – a large school campus for 1,350 pupils, whose architectural concept translates the programme into a human scale and interweaves learning, physical activity and social interaction. Another current example is the Neufreimann education campus in Munich: With two schools, each with six classes per grade, for around 2,000 children and young people, several sports halls, a school swimming pool, a nursery, a cafeteria and extensive outdoor facilities, it is among the largest and most complex school building projects currently underway in the city. As in Frankfurt-Riedberg, a comprehensive spatial programme is transformed here into a clear, user-focused structure – functional, precise in terms of urban planning and with the aim of making education tangible as a social space.

The early integration of the next generation into the management team played a key role in shaping today’s leadership – long before the founding partners officially retired. Oliver Braun, Florian Gruner and Alexander Lange. Together with Walter Fritz, who was a partner at a+r from 2010 to 2025, they guided the firm’s transformation from a 20-person office into the company it is today – while developing a remarkable way of working together.

There is no universally recognisable design signature, no “a+r look” that is applied across the board to all projects. Architecture, the team firmly believes, must evolve from its place, not from a desire for recognition. The result is solutions with depth, character and precision – whether school, office building, housing project, church or cultural institution. The team of architects analyses, interprets, scales – and keeps thinking. From the accurate urban master plan down to the smallest detail. “You might call us straitjacket planners,” says Alexander Lange with a smile. “We need clear boundary conditions in order to flourish in our work.” This approach leads to buildings that integrate seamlessly into their context and are yet unmistakable – like the cultural centre Kulturbahnhof Aalen (KUBAA), a beacon project for adaptive reuse and a hub for culture and community. “We believe you can tell whether a project has been created with joy,” says Oliver Braun about the team spirit that runs through each project: “With joy in designing, in collaboration, and in implementation.”

a+r Architekten are competition architects – with heart and soul and an impressive track record. For years, they have ranked among the most successful practices in the German-speaking world. Over the past decade, they’ve consistently placed in the top 10 of the Competitionline ranking, reaching number 1 in 2020 and currently standing at fourth place. Around 50 competitions per year, with 8 to 10 wins – that’s not just a discipline, it’s top-level sport. “We play to win. Just taking part isn’t enough,” encapsulates Oliver Braun. This isn’t about vanity – it’s about ambition. Every competition is a new challenge, a new opportunity to design something special. The fact that no one ends up sleep-deprived and carving models at the last minute is a crucial part of their success: at a+r, good architecture doesn’t happen under pressure but in flow.

What sets the practice apart is how people treat one another and the task at hand. One phrase comes up often: “confident humility.” It may sound cumbersome, but it captures the essence of a+r’s self-image. The architects don’t consider themselves creators, but interpreters – of requirements, places and visions. No gestures for gesture’s sake. No power games with clients. Instead: dialogue, discipline, and sometimes respectful disagreement. Lessons have also come from setbacks. “You have to learn to lose before you can win,” says Florian Gruner, who oversees the later HOAI service phases within the leadership team. And mistakes aren’t brushed aside – they’re analysed. That’s another thing that makes the office so vibrant: a culture of constant learning shaped by openness. Observing, discussing, improving – even when first prize is already all sewn up.

Even in times when the construction industry is faltering, a+r Architekten remain proactive. They think projects differently – boldly and precisely, without losing themselves in speculation. Living above the opera, for example – a village on the rooftop of Stuttgart’s temporary opera house – isn’t utopia for the a+r team, it’s lived reality. Their experimental approach relies on their client’s courage just as much as the planners’ analytical expertise – especially in housing construction. “We have to completely rethink floor plans,” says Alexander Lange. “The traditional living room is often unnecessary. Instead, we need central, flexible spaces – compact, efficient and yet of high quality.”

The office’s focus is on the future, not the past. “A high-rise would be nice,” says Oliver Braun. “Or a mountain hut,” adds Alexander Lange. One for the view, the other for the simplicity. Both are expressions of the same idea: architecture starts in the mind and grows through collaboration. And when it’s nurtured, as it has been at a+r, with such energy, joy and skill over decades, then an anniversary is not a retrospective – but a springboard. Into the next 40 years of architecture – with attitude, heart and a rhythm all of its own.

Stuttgart, July 2025
Reprint free of charge / specimen copy requested

a+r Architekten stand for solid, environmentally compatible and future-oriented architecture with impressive expertise in the field of sustainable building — also in existing building contexts. Founded in 1985 by Professor Gerd Ackermann and Professor Hellmut Raff, the office with branches in Stuttgart and Tübingen has around 130 employees and is today headed by Oliver Braun, Florian Gruner and Alexander Lange. a+r Architekten mainly build for public clients, industry and commerce, municipal housing companies and social institutions. The office focuses on appropriate, ecological, functional and the resulting innovative construction methods and has been awarded prestigious prizes for this approach.

www.aplusr.de

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