COMPETITION ORGANISER
Saxony-Anhalt dam operation

LOCATION
Kelbra DAM

PROJECT TYPE
NEW DEVELOPMENT

COMPETITION
INTERDISCIPLINARY ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION

Visible from afar, the concise form of the experience center already intuitively conveys the purpose of the structure. The wide cantilevered canopies welcome visitors with a pavilion-like inviting gesture as a point of attraction in the natural landscape. The projections of the upper floors, which are staggered over the floors, allow associations with typical observation towers and already arouse curiosity about the view that can be obtained from up there. Different familiar motifs come together to form something new and independent. As an overarching first point of contact, the new building stands out clearly from the existing functional buildings and represents an appropriate prelude with an identity-forming effect for the juxtaposition of the various leisure uses on the lake.

COMPETITION ORGANISER
Burg Giebichentein

LOCATION
Halle

PROJECT TYPE
New development

TEAM
Rabe Landschaften

COMPETITION
INTERDISCIPLINARY ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION

The Studio and workshop building forms a clear, Compact volume in the street alignment of Seebener Street. Due to its location the new building forms a generous square to the east and creates open space to the south.

Typologically, the new studio and workshop building oscillates between production building, cultural building and market hall. The special spatial feature is the interior, building-high open space, which serves as a meeting point, workyard, workspace and event hall. The interior marketplace and the informal spiral staircases ensure easy orientation in the building. More public uses, such as the refectory and gallery, are located directly on the square and are both separable and extendable to form the hall.

The predominant atmospheric material for the inner and outer shells and surfaces is wood.

COMPETITION ORGANISER
GERMAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY, DESSAU 

LOCATION
BERLIN

PROJECT TYPE
CONVERSION AND EXTENSION

TEAM
GLASS KRAMER LÖBBERT

COMPETITION
IMPLEMENTATION COMPETITION

The Dahlem research campus for the German Environment Agency will receive a new, more inviting public image, which was urgently required. The main entrance is situated at the widely visible tower, in a key position in the central avant-corps, thereby defining and consolidating the building’s symmetry. 

The historical laboratory building has a highly functional, robust and convertible structure. Despite its age, it anticipated the demands of sustainable architecture: even after a century, the building can still continue to be used with acceptable effort. The new laboratory wing’s structure is defined by the existing development.

Access routes, communally used functions and prestigious spaces in the existing architecture are thereby also activated in a coherent, barrier-free way for the new building. The new laboratory wing complements the incomplete Wilhelminian building in an appropriate and natural manner. Its exterior appearance is autonomous, while respecting the older building fabric. The resulting highly user-friendly, flexibly zonable spaces have a regular, simple structure.

COMPETITION ORGANISER
MAGISTRACY, CITY OF GIESSEN

LOCATION
CITY OF GIESSEN

PROJECT TYPE
MONUMENT REFURBISHMENT AND NEW BUILDING

CONSTRUCTION COSTS, COST GROUPS 200 – 800
EUR 6,000,000.00

PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE STAGES 1–9

COMPETITION
1^ST PRIZE, IMPLEMENTATION COMPETITION

Especially in Giessen, where so few historical buildings have survived, it is hardly possible to find an appropriate location to communicate urban history: based on the relics of Giessen Castle, known as the Wasserburg, which forms the nucleus of the city, the two houses on Kirchenplatz represent different temporal layers – including one of the oldest half-timber houses in Hesse. Major measures and undermining extensions only weaken the concise nature of this unique ensemble.

The key architectural prerequisite for a pleasant museum experience is a connection between the two buildings, thereby enhancing their inviting character and enabling a coherent interior museum tour. The inserted, well-lit staircase guides visitors to all levels and makes the historical architecture and the exhibition very tangible. Although the finely-structured, transparent extension is clearly recognisable as a contemporary structure, it merges with the existing structures to form a homogeneous unity through its references to the identity-strengthening architecture. The enlarged entrance opening highlights the museum’s self-perception as a publicly open facility.

COMPETITION ORGANISER
GEMIBAU MITTELBADISCHE BAUGENOSSENSCHAFT EG

LOCATION
OFFENBURG

PROJECT TYPE
NEW BUILDING

COMPETITION
OPEN IMPLEMENTATION COMPETITION

Living at a historical location.
The romantic-sounding image of a deserted industrial facility is picked up on, alienated and developed further to create its own identity for a liveable neighbourhood. 
Newly developed buildings and open spaces merge with the existing structures to achieve a characteristic whole.

ORGANISER
LANDESSPORTBUND THÜRINGEN E.V.

LOCATION
BLEILOCH DAM, THURINGIA

PROJECT TYPE
NEW BUILDING

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
RABE LANDSCHAFTEN

COMPETITION
IMPLEMENTATION COMPETITION

A clearly framed, yet permeable facility is being developed in the Thüringer Meer reservoir region. While the heated volume is pooled in a compact building, flexibly usable, covered exterior spaces frame the location, defining it and ensuring a peaceful, robust atmosphere, as well as  enabling many ways for people to get together. A transparent ground floor allows the interior and exterior spaces to merge, thereby ensuring a low-threshold approach to the location. In this way, the state sports federation known as the Landessportbund Thüringen can fulfil its aim of a holistic education policy, in which cognitive, emotional, social, and value- and activity-orientated dimensions play a role.

ORGANISER
MARKT REICHENBACH

LOCATION
MARKT REICHENBACH

PROJECT TYPE
REFURBISHMENT AND CONVERSION

COMPETITION
IMPLEMENTATION COMPETITION

The image of a hall enthroned above this location has been familiar to the local residents for decades. The identity-strengthening character of the striking building will also remain preserved in future. However, key measures change both the exterior appearance and the inner structure to fulfil today’s requirements. The result need not be a compromise and allows existing design characteristics to be developed further in a consistent way, thereby merging existing and new structures into a coherent unity.

CLIENT
CITY OF LICHTENFELS

LOCATION
LICHTENFELS

PROJECT TYPE
CONVERSION AND NEW BUILDING

PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE STAGES 1 – 9

CONSTRUCTION COSTS KG 200 – 800
EUR 5,500,000.00 

GFA
1,840 M²

NFA
1,240 M²

The new city library consists of three volumes: the historical building on the market square, the reading room and a rear-courtyard building. Its organisation in elongated wings picks up on the urban structure, providing a height-development that conforms to the situation.

The reading room is developed without any spatial partition, out of the joint counter that can be locked using a mobile wall outside opening hours. It is structured by a wall of books, its lower section partitioning the library’s auxiliary functions on the ground floor. Its upper section separates the library’s quieter zones from the more lively reading steps.

The three floors of the rear-courtyard building accommodate reading desks, workplaces and the various departments with auxiliary functions. The floors are connected by free-standing stairs. The rooftop terrace on the reading room is designed as a spacious rooftop garden with seating; it is available both to users and to library employees, as well as passers by, serving as a peaceful retreat in the city centre.

CONSTRUCTION 2020 – 2024

ORGANISER
CITY OF LANDSHUT

LOCATION
LANDSHUT

PROJECT TYPE
REFURBISHMENT AND EXTENSION

COMPETITION
IMPLEMENTATION COMPETITION

The new extension to the Landshut City Theatre is harmoniously nestled into the historical “Bernlocher Komplex”, combining with it to express a clearly formulated outer edge. 
Inside, new and old elements are interwoven in a selfless, unreserved manner, thereby achieving the best possible, highly-efficient theatre operations. Its exterior appearance presents the new theatre facility as an autonomous architectural position and provides a prestigious entrance with a forecourt on the southwestern corner of the ensemble. The theme of the vaults inside the existing building is reflected outside in a slightly playful, varied way on the new façade. The extension also refers to the cityscape of Landshut, which is important in terms of its construction and cultural history, by presenting the arch as a familiar aperture form.

COMPETITIAN ORGANIZER
City administration of Bamberg

LOCATION
Bamberg

PROJECT TYPE
Conversion of industrial site

COMPETITION
Realization competition

CLIENT
KLASSIK STIFTUNG WEIMAR (DE)

LOCATION
BAUERBACH, THURINGIA (DE)

PROJECT TYPE
MUSEUM AND MONUMENT PRESERVATION

PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE STAGES 1 – 9

CONSTRUCTION COSTS, COST GROUPS 300 – 400
EUR 750,000.00

GFA
235 M²

GROSS VOLUME
577 M³

The memorial location for Friedrich Schiller, who sought asylum there in 1782-1783 while fleeing from Stuttgart, was to be rediscovered with an architectural concept. 

The existing division between auxiliary and exhibiting uses had to be overcome by means of a harmonious overall spatial situation. The findings of restoration and building-historical investigations were meagre, especially for the important period of the poet’s residence there. In addition to preservation and museological measures, extensive structural strengthening measures and architectural decisions had to be taken, above all with respect to recreating the exterior plaster, which had been previously removed, as well as the furnishing for the visitor areas. 

COMPETITION ORGANISER
CITY OF KULMBACH

LOCATION
ALTE SPINNEREI, KULMBACH

PROJECT TYPE
CONVERSION, INDUSTRIAL BUILDING

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
STATION C23 LEIPZIG

COMPETITION
2^ND PRIZE, IMPLEMENTATION COMPETITION

The former spinning works known as the Alte Spinnerei stands as precisely and proudly as in the heyday of Kulmbach’s textile industry, around a century ago. Unchanged at fist glance, spatial changes have nevertheless been carried out for its new users. They subtly characterise the building’s appearance and redefine its interior: a ground-floor entrance opens the building across the entire length of the square, while a building-high foyer creates a completely new spatial gesture. Low floor-heights fulfil the new demand for smaller spatial structures, without conflicting with the powerful existing façade.

COMPETITION ORGANISER
MUNICIPALITY OF GRANSEE

LOCATION
GRANSEE LIBRARY

PROJECT TYPE
MONUMENT PRESERVATION AND NEW BUILDING

COMPETITION
IMPLEMENTATION COMPETITION, 3^RD PRIZE 

The square in front of the old school becomes the forecourt to the library. New outdoor steps highlight the building’s public function. 

The striking cobblestone path with chestnut trees parallel to the cloister wing already has the spatial power for an appropriate forecourt area in front of the historical building’s new ground-floor exhibition spaces. We use that situation to provide additional access there.

Efficient measures to the urban-planning fabric spatially activate the beautiful garden on the eastern side. This is supplemented by the added promenade and café in the out house. The sweeping promenade defines a new interior courtyard between the cloister wing and the old school; its arches afford various perspectives on the garden, opposite which lies a sunny outdoor area for the café to the north. In between, the garden stretches out as a new space for culture and education in Gransee.

CLIENT
FÖRDERVEREIN SCHLOSS BEDHEIM

LOCATION
BEDHEIM CASTLE, BEDHEIM

PROJECT TYPE
NEW BUILDING

CONSTRUCTION COSTS, COST GROUPS 200 – 800
EUR 300,000.00

FUNDING
IBA-THÜRINGEN
THURINGIA MINISTRY OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND AGRICULTURE

GFA
400 M²

USABLE SPACE 
204 M²

PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE STAGES 1 – 9

Bedheim Castle is participating in the International Building Exhibition Thüringen. One of its first implemented projects is the “New Shed” (Neue Remise) in the agricultural yard of the castle facility. With this wooden building, the architects and client demonstrate how simple means and the self-construction of most elements can achieve architectural quality in rural areas.

The elongated volume fills an important gap in the preservation-listed ensemble. The outwardly dark, reserved building surprises with very bright, original interior spaces. Building measures largely did without purchased building elements, as even the windows were constructed by the project participants. The measure demonstrates the advantages of timber construction and formulates a counter-position to the technological, highly automated wooden building currently propagated elsewhere. The uses of the Neue Remise are similar to those in an alpine lodge, just without the mountains. In addition to sleeping quarters and a guest room, there is a spacious kitchen, which also doubles as a common room or even an exhibition space. Sanitary facilities and storage space for the garden café supplement the programme.

The new building, which was completed in 2018, thereby assumes a key role at this complex location, since it has a leverage effect: it achieves many things that were hitherto unfeasible, all in a simpler, warmer, more economical and ecological manner.

COMPETITION ORGANISER
NEUAPOSTOLISCHE KIRCHE

LOCATION
BAHNHOFSTRASSE, COBURG

PROJECT TYPE
NEW CHURCH BUILDING

COMPETITION
MULTIPLE CONTRACT

Our design foresees a clear, bright volume that continues the line of free-standing buildings along Bahnhofstrasse in an urban manner. Its approach to the surrounding eaves heights and the charismatic curvature of the front façade allows the church to hold its own between its neighbours, without forcing itself into the foreground. The hedges and fences in front of the housing on Bahnhofstrasse are interrupted before the Neuapostolische Kirche, creating a forecourt with an open, public character. The impression is supported by the fact that the compact volume only diverges from its pragmatism on its front side, describing an equally striking and inviting gesture with an inwardly curved façade. In the summer months, the community life can move outside onto the forecourt.

ORGANISER
MUNICIPALITY OF STÜTZERBACH

LOCATION
HÜTTENPLATZ, STÜTZERBACH

PROJECT TYPE
NEW BUILDING

COMPETITION
IMPLEMENTATION COMPETITION, 2^ND PRIZE 

The new village centre of Stützerbach is created by the placement of a clear, confident volume that opens up towards the new square in terms of its form and material. A broadly projecting canopy covers the entrance area and creates a protected space for people to gather. The glazed façade facing the square connects the interior with the outside world, presenting a colourful, lively scenario of shopping, relaxing and playing people, as well as goods on offer for sale.

CLIENT
MAX DELBRÜCK CENTER FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE

LOCATION
BIMSB BERLIN-MITTE

MATERIALS
ARTIFICIAL STONE RECEPTACLE, 26,000 POLYETHYLENE BALLS, RELEASE SYSTEM, LED LIGHTING

IMPLEMENTATION COSTS
EUR 90,000.00

A magical space and also a logically calculated location is being created in the staircase of the BERLIN INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL SYSTEMS BIOLOGY. Fluorescent balls fall at programmed intervals from the top floor, dropping over 20 metres through the stairwell and collecting in a receptacle on the ground floor.

In Detlev Ganten’s quote on Max Delbrück, he names a key common aspect of art and science. Above all in the field of molecular medicine, and also in the arts, the aim is “to make the invisible visible”. The idea for this artwork springs from engaging with and further developing this concept. The result is a play on the “almost invisible”. The artwork elevates the investigation of tiny particles in systems biology (cells, genomes etc.) to a scale that is visible to the human eye, making it physically and aesthetically perceptible.

140 balls fall through the stairwell during the course of the day. The rhythm at which they fall is orientated towards the mathematical characteristics of normal distribution. By experiencing  a complete cycle of falling particles, observers can grasp the mathematical characteristics of normal distribution through the visual, acoustic and physical rhythm of the falling balls.

THE ARTWORK WAS PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC AND ACTIVATED ON AUGUST 30, 2019.

CLIENT
WOHNBAU STADT COBURG

LOCATION
COBURG, WÜSTENAHORN DISTRICT

PROJECT TYPE
NEW BUILDING

PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE STAGES 1 – 6

CONSTRUCTION COSTS, COST GROUPS 300 – 400
EUR 2,000,000.00

GFA
670 M²

GROSS VOLUME
2,250 M³

The municipal building in the Coburg district of Wüstenahorn accommodates a large community hall, a café, a community administration office and seminar rooms.

The community centre presents itself as an inviting facility on the new square, with a large roof and a transparent ground floor.

The building’s typology is orientated towards the lake. In the classic manner of a waterfront pier or pavilion, the wooden building mediates between the bank and the water, and between Wüstenahorn and the Wolfgangsee. By referring to the lake rather than the surrounding residential buildings, it highlights its special role as a place for all the neighbourhood’s residents. The new community centre is integrated into the reed belt and becomes THE lakeside building.

The main level is dominated by the wooden-framed windows, upon which the slate-covered roof rests. End-grain parquet, robust fittings and furniture, and rough-sawn columns characterise the interior. The base level inserted into the slope and the interior core ensure the building’s structural rigidity.

HOSTS
ANIKA GRÜNDER AND FLORIAN KIRFEL

LOCATION
BEDHEIM CASTLE

EVENT FORMAT
CONFERENCE SINCE 2015

The Bedheim Fireside Talks “Über Land.Bau.Kunst” have been held regularly since 2015 and address a current theme concerning the overriding fields of architectural and artistic qualities in rural areas.

The format was founded and organised by Anika Gründer, Florian Kirfel, Nikola Mayer and Erik van der Werf. It is held in collaboration with and with financial support from the IBA Tühringen.

We have been inviting participants to the Bedheim Fireside Talks since 2015, at the end of October, when the late summer has not quite past, but the fireside is already an appealing feature. 20 to 30 guests interested in building culture in its widest sense convene at Bedheim Castle for a weekend to discuss a specific theme, breathe the fresh rural air, peel potatoes and enjoy leisurely meals together.

The guests are a selection of renowned architects, political decision-makers, journalists, writers and long-standing friends of Bedheim Castle.

FIRST FIRESIDE TALK_ October 23–24, 2015
Provincial architectural production

SECOND FIRESIDE TALK_ October 21–22, 2016
HANDS ON _ Building for yourself. Between DIY-store charm and artistic masterpieces

THIRD FIRESIDE TALK_ October 5, 2018
U-TURN, I-TURN, URBAN EXODUS – Initiatives for art, building and extending in rural areas

CLIENT
CITY OF NEUSTADT B. COBURG

LOCATION
NEUSTADT B. COBURG

PROJECT TYPE
CONVERSION AND EXTENSION

PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE STAGES 1 – 9

CONSTRUCTION COSTS, COST GROUPS 300 – 400
EUR 3,500,000.00

GFA
1,847 M²

GROSS VOLUME
6,535 M³

From linear to multivalent
In several stages, our design for the kultur.werk.stadt. transformed the Patzschke printworks from a production-line building to a diverse, multivalent cultural centre. The new kultur.werk.stadt now consists of event and exhibition halls, the municipal cultural administration and archive, artist workshops, adult education rooms and a museum on the history of the inner-German border.

Architectural idea
Glass building-block walls divide the former printworks halls into different rooms and access areas. The historical editorial villa was refurbished in accordance with preservation regulations. An extension is developed out of the landscape of roofs, forming a forecourt that announces the ensemble’s new public significance.

CLIENT
CITY OF UMMERSTADT

LOCATION
MARKET SQUARE IN UMMERSTADT

PROJECT TYPE
CONVERSION AND REFURBISHMENT, PRESERVATION-COMPATIBLE RENOVATION

PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE STAGES 1 – 9

CONSTRUCTION COSTS, COST GROUPS 200 – 800
EUR 1,000,000.00

The former half-timber residential building and its auxiliary building are preservation-listed and situated at a prominent location on the corner of the Ummerstadt market square. The plot construction history reaches back to the 17^th century.

After years of vacancy, extensive safety measures were initially required. While the façade was largely reconstructed in accordance with its historical predecessor, the small-scale structure in the interior was adapted to accommodate new uses.

Markt 33 is an especially typical example of the existing structures’ revitalisation in the inner-urban setting, since it is itself a showcase project of the competence centre.
The facility includes exhibition and event rooms, as well as the office of the initiative and a small holiday apartment for cycle tourists.

The project was financially supported by urban-planning funding from the Thuringia State Monument and Archaeology Authority. It was completed in 5 construction stages between 2014 and 2018.

CLIENT
GOETHE INSTITUTE 

LOCATION
GOETHE INSTITUTE, VILLA KAMOGAWA, KYOTO (J)

YEAR AND DURATION
MAY – JULY 2013

The first result of our three-month scholarship at the artists’ residence of the Goethe Institute in Kyoto was the exhibition “Wandering Through Japan’s Used Architecture” at the Villa Kamogawa, including an accompanying lecture. A net made of the currently booming hygiene masks became the carrier of the country’s architectural (and non-architectural) qualities. We also present our collection of converted and used architecture, archived in bento boxes.

Inspired by Terunobu Fujimori’s Architecture Detectives League and the ROJO Kansatsu Gakkai (Street Observation Society), and influenced by Arata Isozaki’s theoretical considerations on “Japan-ness” in architecture, we began our journey through Japan’s used architecture in April 2013. We continuously documented our observations with photographs and in writing, before cataloguing them at a later date. In parallel with our own observations, we discussed our questions in personal conversations with architects, institutions and scientists.

COMPETITION ORGANISER
RAG Aktiengesellschaft Saarbrücken

LOCATION
Halde Duhamel, Ensdorf

PROJECT TYPE
Walkable sculpture

COMPETITION
Ideas competition

CLIENT
KIRFEL-RÜHLE FAMILY

LOCATION
BEDHEIM CASTLE, BEDHEIM

PROJECT TYPE
EMERGENCY SAFETY MEASURES
USE CONCEPT
REFURBISHMENT / PRESERVATION
RECONSTRUCTION

PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE STAGES 1 – 9

IMPLEMENTATION
2012 – 2020

The Baroque castle grounds at Bedheim are a nationally important example of a Baroque manor with a very differentiated building history.
The preservation-listed ensemble has been refurbished and revitalised by Studio Gründer Kirfel in incremental steps since 2012. Since 2013, we have also used it as our place of residence and the location of our office.

Extensive emergency safety measures and initial assessments were followed by the development of a broad concept to restore and revitalise the ensemble in accordance with preservation guidelines. The repair, addition and replacements of building elements was carried out using (often historical) building methods that were gentle on the building substance. A broad range of functions had to be accommodated inside the buildings and rooms: living quarters, public event areas, museum exhibition rooms, gastronomic services, garden design, studios etc. The concept has a long-term timescale and require precise, integrated planning procedure.

In 2009, the small, 18^th-century guardhouse was converted into a café. Following careful measurements, the building was liberated of all subsequent fittings and the original access situation was restored.
From 2012 to 2013, the eastern gable and the central avant-corps were refurbished and reconstructed with funding from the Special Federal Monument Preservation Programme III, the Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz and the Thuringia State Monument Preservation Authority. From 2012 to 2015, 5 apartments were refurbished and the Josephssaal in the west wing was restored. In 2014, the garden-side exterior façades were repaired and plastered. In 2015, the anterooms of the Josephsaal were also renovated.

TEACHING FORMAT
OWN FORMAT AT THE BAUHAUS-UNIVERSITÄT WEIMAR

LOCATION
BEDHEIM CASTLE

TARGET GROUP
BACHELOR AND MASTER STUDENTS

TEACHERS
ANIKA GRÜNDER AND FLORIAN KIRFEL

Since 2012, we have offered an annual two-week block seminar in the summer for Architecture students at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
We developed the concept and organisation of the building workshop ourselves. The seminar is organised under the auspices of the Chair for Building History and Monument Preservation led by Prof. Hans-Rudolf Meier.

The aim of the workshop is to combine teaching, research and practice. Students learn at the building workshop through the practical application of building structures and materials, while building on existing structures and working with preservation regulations. The techniques used are both historical and contemporary. The restorers’ approach can also be the content, such as the strengthening of the existing building fabric. Additional learning content includes working autonomously on a building site, self-organisation and teamwork. Furthermore, we aim to encourage a competent physical approach to handling monuments, as well as a confident approach to designing tasks in the field of monument preservation, as well as building on existing structures.
The individual working stages are explained in their larger architectural and structural contexts. This takes place directly at the building site, on tours through the castle and at lectures at the end of the working day. Artisans and producers of building materials provide additional support.