"Are we really to believe that this seven-story apartment building is constructed of timber? There is no indication of it on the exterior; the rendered facade might very well be concealing reinforced-concrete walls. Timber construction was the express wish of the clients, a private initiative. But the architects felt that the wood did not necessarily have to be visible: Firstly, they had difficulty accepting a timber facade amidst solid-masonry apartment buildings dating back to the late nineteenth century, and secondly, from a fire-protection perspective, flame-retardant exterior surfaces would have obvious advantages. By taking a closer look, one will see that the rendered facade does in fact have a relationship to the structural system: Different textures in the rendering trace the timber frame and the infill."