Visitor Centre for Bauhaus school
VISITOR CENTRE FOR BAUHAUS SCHOOL
Bernau, UNESCO world heritage, Germany
Competition
Area 480 sqm
Costs ca. 1 Mio. Euro
Architects
Dittel Architekten, Stuttgart
Team
Paulina Mecic, Lennart Schütz
Christin Gegenheimer, team leader
Client
City of Bernau, Berlin
Prize
Recognition (1. prize, 2. prize, recognition)
Due to the historic site without any reference edges to take and the strictly limited site, the single-story volume for this visitor centre appears as a clear, quiet pavilion, which restrains from the expressive, staggered volumes of the Bauhaus world heritage opposite.
The cantilevered roof at the entrance of the building points out the focus of the direction of attraction and defines the main entrance. There was no intention to copy elements of the historic buildings but to implement principles of Bauhaus such as honest construction and materials into a modern architecture.
The different uses are located in four plain, static load-bearing cubes out of concrete walls, all combined to one pavilion under a concrete roof with a wrapping facade around either solid, where no light is needed or out of glass, where it needs to be bright and wants to allow a view from the inside of the visitor centre to the historic site.
The cubes under the roof were organized to allow different, interesting interspaces between the cubes or cube and facade all with different functions for the exhibition, which leads you through the entire building.
The materials for construction and interior design are following the Bauhaus principles in a modern way. The reinforced concrete cubes show their rough surface and their structural strength. Extension materials for counter, cloak room, seating etc. are mainly recycling materials such as Paper-Wood or recycling terrazzo.
As a single-story building it is barrier-free for everyone. Due to the low budget energy saving is important so the building ventilation will be mainly natural - the profiles of the glass facade have an integrated, intelligent ventilation system. Closed rooms can be ventilated by classic window ventilation.
To install all media throughout the exhibition a cavity floor allows easy installation of cables, etc.