Town Hall and Community Center

Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González

Town Hall and Community Center 

Bez+Kock Architekten

PROGRAM
Extension of a historic town hall

BUILDING PHYSICS
Krämer-Evers Bauphysik

LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Planungsbüro DTP

GROSS VOLUME
total 23,818 m2 (16,740 m3 new construction / 7,078 m3 old building)

ARCHITECTS
Bez + Kock Architekten BDA, Generalplaner GmbH, Stuttgart Martin Bez, Thorsten Kock

CONSTRUCTION COSTS
approx. 14 million € gross

GROSS FLOOR AREA TOTAL
5,503 m2 (3,560 m2 new construction / 1,943 m2 old building)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Drees & Sommer

PROJECT TEAM
Sebastian Linder, Rupert Wagner, Ann-Kathrin Milch

COMPETITION TEAM
Jing Zhao

LOCAL CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Architekturbüro Klünder, Architekturbüro Klünder, Dortmund

GEOTECHNICS
IGC Geoconsult

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
R&P Ruffert Ingenieurgesellschaft

FIRE PROTECTION
Jung-Vierling

MANUFACTURERS
Kingspan Insulated Panels, dormakaba, FSB Franz Schneider Brakel, Casalgrande Padana, Cinca, Forbo Flooring, Franz Nüsing, Janinhoff, Knauf, PERROT, Paul Bauder, Portawin Kriege, Remix Droge Mortel BV, Schäfer Trennwandsysteme, Schörghuber, Schüco, Sievert

COMPETITION
01 / 2017 1st prize

START OF CONSTRUCTION
08 / 2019

START OF PLANNING
11 / 2017

WORK PHASES
1-9

AREA
5503 m²

YEAR
2023

LOCATION
Holzwickede, Germany

CATEGORY
Town & City Hall, Extension

The extension of the historic town hall in Holzwickede offered the opportunity to merge the market square in terms of urban development and to give the town hall itself a new wholeness.

Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González
Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González

The listed town hall, built in 1915, was preserved and recognizable as a solitary structure. At the same time, an angular structure was added to it in such a way that a new urban solitaire was created in which the existing building is a self-evident part of the larger whole.

The new town hall develops around a central hall with square skylights, whose sculpturally modeled walls create a charming daylight situation.

Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González
Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González

The hall forms the foyer of the citizens' hall, is the contact point of the citizens' service, a central place of communication in the town hall, and, last but not least, a museum hall in which the historic building exhibits itself.

Together with the new part of the building, it forms a functional and typological whole.

Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González
Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González

From the dead-end-like short corridors of the historic town hall, a circumferential access system was created that combines simple orientation with short distances.

Together with the open staircase in the hall, it has become a daily meeting place.

Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González
Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González

The color-changing clinker facade of the new building was carefully matched to the color scheme of the old building, thus supporting the interplay between old and new.

The design-defining exposed brickwork is also found in the central hall, thus ensuring a low-threshold transition from the outside to the inside.

The carpentered interior was finished in oak, which was used here as a homely complement to the powerful masonry.

Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González
Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González
Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González

The formal, large civic hall has become a lively forum for Holzwickede's citizenry. A small bistro to the side of the main entrance enlivens the adjacent marketplace with its outdoor catering and also caters for events in the building.

The interiors of the old building were renovated in accordance with the preservation order, and the facade of the old building facing the hall was also restored with craftsmanship.

In this way, the atmospheric qualities of the historic town hall, which had been lost over the years, could be made perceptible again.

Town Hall and Community Center
© Brigida González


Town Hall and Community Center
Plan - Ground floor
Town Hall and Community Center
Plan - 1st floor
Town Hall and Community Center
Plan - 2nd floor
Town Hall and Community Center
Plan - 3rd floor


Town Hall and Community Center
Plan - Site
Town Hall and Community Center
South Elevation