Exhibition Building Mathildenhöhe
Darmstadt, 2012 - 2024
Cultural buildings, Listed buildings
In 2012, schneider+schumacher was selected through a design-and-build tender process to renovate the exhibition building at Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt. The building was completed in 1908 to a design by Joseph Maria Olbrich, extensively renovated and extended in the 1970s, and forms part of the Mathildenhöhe artists’ colony, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021. The energy-efficiency refurbishment, due for completion in 2024, was necessary to ensure the building could continue to be used for national and international temporary exhibitions in the future.
Working closely with specialist design firms and supported by the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, a design was developed based on the building’s potential and character, which was funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) as a model project for energy-efficient renovation. The concept combines active energy-saving components, such as modern and energy-efficient building services, in an exemplary manner with passive, structural components such as insulation systems, innovative building materials and passive building concepts. The challenge lay in the limited space available for the building services, which necessitated a system that was as space-saving and decentralised as possible, bringing the optimisation of the building envelope to the fore. At the same time, minor shortcomings regarding visitor flow and appearance were rectified, always in accordance with heritage conservation requirements. A significant improvement beyond the energy-efficient refurbishment concerns the reorganisation of the café. Housed in the former valve chamber of the water reservoir, and accessible without barriers and independently of the museum’s opening hours, it offers a suitable meeting place within the World Heritage Site. The interior design of the café and the exhibition spaces was also carried out by schneider+schumacher.
Offices involved:
Related interior design project:
Exhibition Building Mathildenhöhe - Interior designTechnical details:
Typology: Cultural buildings, Listed buildingsProcurement documentation: Freelance services procurement procedure (VOF)
Service phases (HOAI): 1-8
Client: Stadt Darmstadt / Institut Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt
