Discover Germany | Special Theme | German Architecture 2017
Heppenheim Bergstraße project, exterior view.
Saving spaces through transformation Berlin forms the transient backdrop for raumwandler architects, who specialise in breathing new life into cherished structures. TEXT: CORNELIA BRELOWSKI I PHOTOS: RAUMWANDLER
raumwandler are a compact team of ten co-workers from six different countries, including architects, engineers and one art historian around architect and founder Uwe Licht. Based in the transient, everevolving cityscape of Berlin, raumwandler (the term translates as ‘space transformers’) have chosen the reconstruction of historical monuments, their conversion and reutilisation as their special field of expertise. As founder Uwe Licht states: “For me, the reconstruction of listed buildings means working with both a piece of culture and a chapter of social history.”
ing. Additional training as a fire safety expert and yearlong experience with fire protection concepts allow including this tricky safety feature into each planned project upfront.
Uwe Licht studied architecture in Mainz and scenography in Munich and Rosenheim after completing his carpenter train-
The latest major project is just about to come to a close. The former Heppenheim clinical centre from 1866 is set near Hep-
108 | Issue 50 | May 2017
Single buildings as well as whole quarters are being re-utilised through raumwandler’s planning and reconstruction expertise. They mostly are transformed into new residential areas with a high living quality, such as the former US headquarters in Dahlem, renamed as ‘Metropolitan Gardens’.
penheim, the southernmost county town of Hesse. The partially listed buildings of the area include the former women’s and men’s quarters respectively, a number of utility and administration buildings as well as gatehouse, great hall and chapel. Over the past three years, the former facility has been successfully converted into 180 living units of various sizes. The main building material of the former psychiatric clinic is the typical yellow and red sandstone stemming from the region. Mostly consisting of three-storey buildings, the solid walls vary in thickness between 1.5 metres in the cellars and 50 centimetres on the second floor. The three main, listed buildings as well as the surrounding smaller structures have been transformed into living units and offices of various sizes, many of which now include balconies. All floors are accessible through newly installed lifts. The former attic sections have been remodelled as inhabitable top floor units due to