Newbuild pays homage to Bauhaus

A pavilion with wrap-around glazing forms the starting point for visits to the Bauhaus UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bernau. It was a key concern for the architects to make the façade of the new visitor centre as transparent as possible. They succeeded in doing so with the thermally insulated VISS steel profile façade and floor-to-ceiling glazed Janisol HI doors from Schüco Jansen Steel Systems.

In the summer of 2017, the ADGB Trade Union School in Bernau, near Berlin, received World Heritage status from UNESCO. In order to accommodate the expected increase in visitor numbers, a visitor centre was added to the ensemble of listed buildings. Stuttgart-based practice Steimle Architekten won against stiff competition to design the building. Their proposed building structure – a rectangular cube with wrap-around glazing and a wide, sweeping roof on the entrance side – is supplementary to the ensemble of listed buildings, while also being an architectural landmark in its own right. 

Transparency is key

A structure of just a few "real" materials has been created across an area of just under 500 square metres. Surrounded by a steel glass façade, the roof appears to float above the visitor centre. It was very important for the architects to make the thermal break between the interior and exterior as transparent as possible. They succeeded in doing so with the thermally insulated VISS steel profile façade with 50 mm face width from Schüco Jansen Steel Systems. The grid, generally measuring 300 centimetres, is only broken up by window doors from the Janisol HI steel system, which are also floor-to-ceiling. 

A journey through building history

Complete with a permanent multimedia exhibition on the history of the Trade Union School and its use, as well as selected exhibits from the original exhibition, the transparent pavilion pays homage to the listed building from the Weimar Republic. The façade with wrap-around glazing provides visitors with a constant view of the historical building.