Architecture studio Von M clad the exterior of a hotel in Ludwigsburg, which was constructed from wooden modules, in white shingles to contrast with the surrounding buildings.
The Stuttgart studio built the hotel in the centre of Ludwigsburg, Germany, near its baroque castle and a 1970s shopping centre as part of a plan to rejuvenate the area.

According to the studio, the city's planning department required that the hotel "become a showcase project as the first CO2-neutral building in Ludwigsburg".
Though the building's base and staircase are made from concrete, Von M chose to work mainly with wooden modules to construct the hotel in order to create a more sustainable building. Its load-bearing elements are also made from wood.
"The walls, floors and ceilings of the hotel rooms were assembled to container-like modules in the factory from cross-laminated timber, which had been computer-controlled cut," the studio said.
The containers, which were made from local wood and produced in Austria, were furnished with the necessary additions such as windows, floor coverings and tiles in a production hall assembly line. They were then transported to Ludwigsburg and installed on the site over five days.

Von M believes that the use of concrete, which is carbon-intensive, for the building was compensated for by the wood used, creating a carbon-neutral building.

"There is considerable potential regarding construction-site logistics in the city centre," ...