# Large-panel-system building

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{{Expand German|topic=struct}}
{{Short description|Building constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2014}}
[[File:Umgebauter Plattenbau Uranusstraße Leipzig-Grünau.jpg|thumb|A typical low large panel system-building in [Leipzig](/source/Leipzig), [Germany](/source/Germany)]]<!-- [WP:NFCC](/source/WP%3ANFCC) violation: thumb|The partially-collapsed Ronan point, an example of a Plattenbau -->
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-0128-310, Berlin, Marzahn, Neubaugebiet, Wohnblocks.jpg|thumb|{{lang|de|Berlin-[Marzahn](/source/Marzahn)|italic=no}}, the largest East German {{lang|de|Neubaugebiet}} (1987)]]
A '''large-panel-system building'''{{efn| abbreviation: LPS; [German](/source/German_language): ''Plattenbau'' {{IPA|de|ˈplatn̩ˌbaʊ̯||De-Plattenbau.ogg|}} , plural: Plattenbauten {{IPA|de|ˈplatn̩ˌbaʊ̯tn̩||De-Plattenbauten.ogg|}} ; etymology: ''Platte'' + ''Bau'', lit.: ''panel''/''slab'' + ''building''}} is a building constructed of large, [prefabricated concrete slab](/source/Concrete_slab)s. Such buildings are often found in [housing developments](/source/Housing_development). Although large-panel-system buildings are often considered to be typical of [Eastern Bloc](/source/Eastern_Bloc) countries in the second half of the 20th century, this prefabricated construction method was also used extensively in [Western Europe](/source/Western_Europe) and elsewhere, particularly in [public housing](/source/public_housing) (see [tower block](/source/tower_block)).

This construction method, known as ''Plattenbau'' in German, involves assembling buildings from story-high precast concrete elements that are manufactured in a factory and then transported to the construction site for assembly. It emerged from efforts to develop [serial and industrialized housing construction](/source/Residential_building_series), evolving through techniques such as block construction, large-block construction, concrete strip construction, and [cast-in-place concrete](/source/cast-in-place_concrete) panels from the early 20th century onward.

For large-panel construction to be effective, it requires typification, standardization, and the capability for industrialized production, transportation, and assembly of the heavy elements. Due to evolving political and technological conditions, this method became widespread across Europe after [World War II](/source/World_War_II). While large-panel buildings in Western Europe were primarily used for social housing projects, they became the dominant construction method for nearly all purposes in socialist Europe from the early 1960s onward. However, economic constraints in Eastern European [planned economies](/source/Planned_economy) limited the full realization of the system's increasing flexibility and complexity.

==History==

=== Early history ===
In the mid-19th century, a boom in prefabrication began with the export of preassembled houses made of wood and iron to [British colonies](/source/British_Colonies).<ref>{{Cite web |title=History Of Prefab Construction {{!}} Plungie |url=https://plungie.com/en-au/blog/history-of-prefab-construction |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=plungie.com |language=en-au}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Urban |first=Florian |title=Tower and Slab - Histories of global mass housing |url=https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781136638503_A24438477/preview-9781136638503_A24438477.pdf}}</ref> This trend ended around 1860 with the{{Which?|date=April 2025}} gold rush, after which manufacturers shifted their focus back to the domestic market. However, prefabrication only had a chance of success if it could compete with traditional [masonry](/source/masonry) construction. This led to the spread of cast [concrete](/source/concrete) in England and France.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Emmerson |first=Roger |title=A short history of prefabrication |url=https://www.prefabmuseum.uk/content/history/short-history-prefabrication |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=Prefab Museum |language=en}}</ref>

The [artificial stone](/source/artificial_stone) company ''Lippmann, Schneckenburger & Cie.'' from [Batignolles](/source/Batignolles), near [Paris](/source/Paris), was the first to produce hollow concrete panels that could be assembled into houses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Engineer 1862/12/26 - Graces Guide |url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/The_Engineer_1862/12/26 |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=www.gracesguide.co.uk}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> However, these panels had to be small to remain transportable, which limited their size. In 1875, W. H. Lascalles experimented with a block construction system using reinforced elements measuring 61 × 91 × 4 cm. The English architect [Richard Norman Shaw](/source/Richard_Norman_Shaw) was commissioned to design [cottages](/source/Cottage) in a rustic style for this system. Lascalles and Shaw were awarded a gold medal at the [1878 Paris World Exhibition](/source/Exposition_Universelle_(1878)) for their houses, which were inspired by the [Queen Anne style architecture](/source/Queen_Anne_style_architecture).<ref>{{citation|author=Kurt Junghanns |date=1994 |isbn=3-433-01274-1 |location=Berlin |pages=19–20 |publisher=Ernst & Sohn |title=Das Haus für Alle - Zur Geschichte der Vorfertigung in Deutschland}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

The first known houses constructed from large prefabricated concrete panels were built by [John Alexander Brodie](/source/John_Alexander_Brodie), an employee of the city of [Liverpool](/source/Liverpool). Between 1903 and 1905, he oversaw the construction of worker housing on Eldon Street for the [Housing Council](/source/Housing_Council). This project was experimental, with work processes being documented photographically. Brodie's goal was to create housing quickly and affordably.

The buildings were constructed partly using in-situ concrete and masonry, while others featured story-high prefabricated panels with window openings. Assembly involved erecting a house-sized scaffold. Some wall panels were even cast on the completed floors and then tilted into position. In 1905, Brodie presented another prefabricated house at the Cheap Cottages Exhibition in [Letchworth, England](/source/Letchworth%2C_England).<ref>{{Cite web |last=England |first=Historic |date=2018-01-25 |title=In Suburbia: Cottage Exhibitions |url=https://heritagecalling.com/2018/01/25/in-suburbia-cottage-exhibitions/ |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=The Historic England Blog |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=1905 Cheap Cottages Exhibition {{!}} Garden City Collection |url=http://www.gardencitycollection.com/themes/1905-cheap-cottages-exhibition |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=www.gardencitycollection.com}}</ref>

=== The Atterbury System ===
In 1902, the architect [Grosvenor Atterbury](/source/Grosvenor_Atterbury) developed a panel construction system, inspired by [Thomas Edison's](/source/Thomas_Edison) cast concrete houses.<ref name=":0" /> He first applied this method in 1906 in a privately funded experimental project in [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia).<ref name=":0" /> By 1910, he was able to construct one-and-a-half-story buildings,<ref>{{citation|author=Kurt Junghanns |date=1994 |isbn=3-433-01274-1 |location=Berlin |pages=22–23 |publisher=Ernst & Sohn |title=Das Haus für Alle - Zur Geschichte der Vorfertigung in Deutschland}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> and by 1918, he successfully built two-story structures as part of the third phase of the [Forest Hills Gardens](/source/Forest_Hills_Gardens) garden city project in [Queens, New York](/source/Queens%2C_New_York).<ref name=":0" />

The panels were story-high and had no window openings, as these would have made them too heavy. Technically, the system was closer to strip construction. Additionally, the basement was built with masonry, while the ground floor was constructed using in-situ concrete.

Atterbury's construction principle became known as the Atterbury System and gained recognition in Europe. In the Netherlands, it was patented as the "System Bron" and was first used in 1921 for the construction of [Betondorp](/source/Betondorp) ("Concrete Village"), a residential district in [Amsterdam-Oost](/source/Amsterdam-Oost). The two-story row houses were designed by Dutch architect Dick Greiner and were part of a broader series of experimental concrete housing projects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Der Plattenbau als Krisengebiet - Die architektonische und politische Transformation industriell errichteter Wohngebäude aus der DDR am Beispiel der Stadt Leinefelde |url=https://ediss.sub.uni-hamburg.de/bitstream/ediss/1478/2/Text.pdf}}</ref>

=== Post-WWI period ===
Prefabrication was pioneered in the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands) following [World War I](/source/World_War_I), based on construction methods developed in the [United States](/source/United_States). The first German use of large-panel-system building construction is what is now known as the ''Splanemann-Siedlung'' in Berlin's [Lichtenberg](/source/Lichtenberg%2C_Berlin) district, constructed in 1926–1930.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Berlin im Detail: Splanemann-Siedlung |url=http://www.luise-berlin.de/bms/bmstxt97/9704detb.htm}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> These two- and three-storey apartment houses were assembled of locally cast slabs, inspired by the Dutch ''Betondorp'' in [Watergraafsmeer](/source/Watergraafsmeer), a suburb of [Amsterdam](/source/Amsterdam).

=== Post-war period ===
thumb|right|Brand new Hanseatic-themed WBS 70 panel buildings in Rostock-Stadtmitte (September 1986)
In [East Germany](/source/East_Germany), large-panel-system building areas have been designated as ''Neubaugebiet'' ("new development area"). Virtually all new residential buildings since the 1960s were built in this style, as it was a quick and relatively inexpensive way to curb the country's severe housing shortage, which had been caused by wartime bombing raids and the large influx of German refugees from further east. At the same time, many buildings from earlier eras had substantial drawbacks, such as coal heat, no [hot running water](/source/water_heating), or bathrooms shared by multiple units. As these buildings fell into disrepair, many of their inhabitants moved into newer large-panel-system housing. Today, large-panel-system buildings are often no longer desirable, due in part to both their low thermal efficiency, and their rapid deterioration as a result of their vulnerability to damp ingress and their cheap and quick construction methods, while older housing stock has undergone extensive renovation or been replaced with more modern dwelling units.

There were several common large-panel-system building designs. The most common series was the [P2](/source/P2_(panel_building)), followed by the [WBS 70](/source/WBS_70), the [WHH GT 18](/source/WHH_GT_18), and [Q3A](/source/Q3A_Panel_house). The designs were flexible and could be built as towers or rows of apartments of various heights. The short sides of building blocks often featured large-scale murals or colourful [mosaics](/source/Mosaic). 

Since the entire building had a standard structure, apartment layouts were also standardized. Furniture producers used this to offer prefabricated sets that matched a variety of typical apartment setups. 

[[Image:Neuperlach 0629.jpg|thumb|West German large panel system-building in [Munich](/source/Munich)-Neuperlach]]

There have been projects with low rise ''Plattenbauten'' such as the town of [Bernau](/source/Bernau_bei_Berlin) just north of Berlin. This town had an almost complete historic center of mainly wooden-framed buildings within its preserved city walls. Most of these were torn down after 1975 and during the eighties to be replaced by 2–4-storey buildings constructed of prefabricated concrete slabs. To fit in with the medieval church and the almost-complete city wall, the houses used rather small design units and decreased in height the farther away they were from the Church and the nearer they came to the city wall. A similar project was the [Nikolaiviertel](/source/Nikolaiviertel) around the historic Nikolai church in [Berlin](/source/Berlin)'s old centre. In the case of the Nikolaiviertel, the buildings were made to look more historic.

Large-panel-system apartments were once considered highly desirable in East Germany, largely due to the lack of any other viable alternative. The main alternatives of the time were overcrowded, deteriorating prewar housing, often with wartime damage still visible, due to policies that preferred new construction over repairing the damaged housing stock. Plattenbau suburbs were planned not only for apartment buildings, but included schools, shopping centers, hospitals, restaurants, and recreational facilities. Commercial areas were either on the ground floors of high-rise apartment blocks, or in separate structures. Since few citizens owned cars, the developments were planned to include tramways, subways, and bus lines. 

Since [reunification](/source/German_reunification), a combination of decreasing population, renovation of older buildings, and construction of modern alternative housing has led to high vacancy rates, with some estimates placing the number of unoccupied units at around a million. Many large-panel-system apartments were built in giant settlements, often on the edges of cities (such as [Marzahn](/source/Marzahn) and [Hellersdorf](/source/Hellersdorf) in [Berlin](/source/Berlin) and [Halle-Neustadt](/source/Halle-Neustadt)), making them inconveniently located.<!-- Their inconvenient locations were likely also a factor in their rapid deterioration.  << Why? The high vacancy rates were already mentioned in the previous sentences. Also "rapid deterioration" is probably not actually correct. The standard of execution was not particularly high in these buildings to begin with .. --><!-- However, despite the centrally located buildings of the International Building Exposition in Berlin, the neighbourhood today is not considered particularly desirable, and is characterised by deserted streets and apartment buildings isolated from one another in a lifeless garden.  <<  If this is meant to describe the buildings of the [Hansaviertel](/source/Hansaviertel) / [Interbau](/source/Interbau) 1957 rather the opposite is true. The apartments are actually quite popular today and the architecture can still be considered cutting edge .. -->{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

While some large-panel-system apartments have been torn down, many are renovated to a modern standard. Especially in bigger cities, these districts are slowly getting more popular again, since they provide affordable apartments and often walkable environments with good public transport systems.  <!-- , although a lack of funds means many have been left to become derelict, as without extensive renovation, the cheap and low-quality construction of the original buildings meant that after only a few years, they had become severely deteriorated. Because of the modular construction some are dismantled and moved to a new location.  <<  In spite of the "cheap and low-quality construction" the structural concrete slabs do not actually "severely deteriorate" "after only a few years". "Derelict" buildings as well as reused slab elements are a rare exception. Probably so rare that it is not worth mentioning here. -->

[[File:PrefabConcreteBuilding.jpg|thumb|A building being constructed using [prefabricated concrete](/source/Precast_concrete) elements, 2009]]
[[File:Aussicht Skywalk Marzahn Plattenbau Fassendekoration Jan-Petersen-Straße Berlin-Marzahn 02.jpg|thumb|Modernised large panel system-buildings in Berlin [Marzahn](/source/Marzahn)]]
In [Finland](/source/Finland), particularly in northern towns, such as [Rovaniemi](/source/Rovaniemi), Plattenbauten are commonplace. Rovaniemi was nearly completely destroyed during World War II and subsequently rebuilt from scratch, with new concrete-panel buildings replacing old wooden houses and becoming a symbol of modernization.<ref>Kallioniemi 1989, s. 196–209</ref> Whereas in the rest of Europe, large-panel-system buildings are associated with public housing,<!-- due to the extremely limited durability of the construction,  <<  This is not correct. As long as the roof is not leaking these buildings do definitely not deteriorate faster or slower than any other building. --> in Rovaniemi they are favoured by the middle classes on their way to purchasing a bungalow.{{cn|date=August 2021}} <!-- The municipality keeps its construction workers employed, but at the consequence of driving low-quality buildings to exorbitant prices, nearing those of the capital, Helsinki, and turning Rovaniemi into one of the most expensive places to live in Finland.{{cn|date=August 2021}}  <<  Unclear. What is the actual cause for high cost of those apartments? -->

In the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom), the mass construction of [tower block](/source/tower_block)s using large panel system construction in major cities was commonplace in the 1960s and 1970s, being seen as a quick and inexpensive way of social housing renewal in the wake of the war and as a response to [slum clearance](/source/Slum_clearance_in_the_United_Kingdom).  However in many cities, the method was found to be flawed in terms of dealing with the generally intemperate climate of the British Isles as a whole, with many blocks developing excruciating damp and condensation issues which led to them being declared unfit for human habitation.  Improper assembly of the blocks also compounded the issue, with the [Ronan Point](/source/Ronan_Point) collapse in 1968 bringing to bear many design concerns surrounding LPS construction and its general lack of [structural redundancy](/source/Redundancy_(engineering)) in the event of what was, in that case a [gas explosion](/source/gas_explosion).  By the 1980s, the associated stigma of high rise social housing that had built up through the previous decade resulted in hundreds of such blocks being demolished.

==See also==
* [Hansaviertel](/source/Hansaviertel)
* [HLM](/source/HLM) (France)
* [Banlieue](/source/Banlieue) (France)
* [Million Programme](/source/Million_Programme) (Sweden)
* [Panelház](/source/Panelh%C3%A1z) (Hungary)
* [Gemeindebau](/source/Gemeindebau) (Austria)
* [Michenzani](/source/Michenzani) (Zanzibar, Tanzania)
* [Panelák](/source/Panel%C3%A1k) and [Sídlisko](/source/S%C3%ADdlisko) (Czech Republic and Slovakia)
* [Panel building](/source/Panel_building)
* [Panel buildings in Russia](/source/Panel_buildings_in_Russia)
** [Khrushchevka](/source/Khrushchevka)  and [Brezhnevka](/source/Brezhnevka) (former Soviet Union)
* [Ugsarmal bair](/source/Ugsarmal_bair) (Mongolia)
* [Housing estate](/source/Housing_estate)
* [Affordable housing](/source/Affordable_housing)
* [Public housing](/source/Public_housing)
* [Subsidized housing](/source/Subsidized_housing)
* [Structural robustness](/source/Structural_robustness)
* [Prefabricated building](/source/Prefabricated_building)

;Architecture

*[Grosvenor Atterbury](/source/Grosvenor_Atterbury)
*[Unité d'Habitation](/source/Unit%C3%A9_d'Habitation)
*[Urban planning in communist countries](/source/Urban_planning_in_communist_countries)

;Safety

*[Ronan Point](/source/Ronan_Point)

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
*Meuser, Philipp; Zadorin, Dimitrij (2016). ''Towards a Typology of Soviet Mass Housing: Prefabrication in the USSR 1955 – 1991'', DOM publishers, Berlin. {{ISBN|978-3869224466}}.
*Meuser, Philipp (2019). ''Prefabricated Housing. Construction and Design Manual'', DOM publishers, Berlin. {{ISBN|978-3-86922-021-5}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Plattenbau}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141129033421/http://www.fib-international.org/structural-connections-for-precast-concrete-buildings FIB international Bulletin 43 - structural connections for precast concrete buildings]

{{Panel buildings}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Urban studies and planning terminology
Category:Housing in Germany
Category:Economy of East Germany
Category:Prefabricated buildings
Category:Concrete buildings and structures
Category:Public housing
Category:East German architecture
Category:German words and phrases
Category:Construction

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Large-panel-system building](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large-panel-system_building) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large-panel-system_building?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.