Bernau bei Berlin, Germany

Steimle Architekten has built a visitor center featuring a massive cantilevered concrete canopy in Berlin, taking its cues from the Bauhaus movement.

The Visitor Centre Trade Union School is a 485-square-meter building that is realized in order to attract more visitors and meet the growing number of visitors in the town of Bernau after the Bauhaus Monument “Bundesschule Bernau” was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in summer 2017.

The single-story building has a linear layout and wrapped floor-to-ceiling glazing to showcase exhibitions inside.

All functional modules are hidden in concrete volumes, while some concrete wall separations act as display of objects.

“As an innovative and identity-creating building, the new visitor center should on the one hand be subordinate to the monument ensemble, but on the other hand, also assert itself as a high-quality urban architectural structure,” said Steimle Architekten.

“It forms the prelude to an appropriate experience of the World Heritage Site and introduces visitors to the theme of this special place.” 

The building is integrated into the landscape of the pine forest in front of it, the building is described as “a pavilion” that provides a first view of the architectural monument, guided by the long-stemmed pines of the forest. 

As a serene structure, the pavilion constitutes a linear moment that draws attention to the ADGB Bundesschule (Federal School) within the wooded landscape. 

Together with the lofty trees and an inviting entry terrace, this building creates a unity that combines prelude, a moment of motion, and a place of repose with a specific quality. 

The horizontality of the existing structures is taken up and transferred to the pavilion. 

Between its base and its roof, the visitor center is wide open, thus allowing a clear view while at the same time creating a very welcoming atmosphere by the subtle intensification of the interior. The interior space opens out onto the forecourt with an inviting raised entry zone that serves as the arrival point for visitors.

The studio enhances the spatial configuration based on a sequence of experiences, referencing an analogy to the effects that Hannes Meyer called “psychological effects.”

These are “intended to emphasize the physically temporal dimension of the architecture,” according to the studio.

Steimle Architekten conceives the building as a linear moment in the form of a simple stationary structure.

The building is slightly elevated from the forest level and welcomes the visitor via a spacious reception terrace. 

A massive cantilevered concrete canopy, acts like a “welcoming gesture,” inviting visitors to enter in. 

While the building is glazed almost on all sides, it provides sufficient space to experience the special atmosphere and to linger. 

“At the same time, the building assumes its functions of welcoming and providing an open flowing sequence of rooms. Towards the “Bundesschule” in the east, the large showroom, which occupies the entire length of the building, can be divided completely flexibly and, with its open façade, is in constant visual contact with the listed building,” claim the architects. 

Steimle Architekten prefers to devise a specific design language that is inspired and reflected by the graphic systems and technical equipment of the Trade Union School and achieves an independent aesthetic by following its function.

The roof of the building, which marks the building from afar, appears heavy due to the materiality of the insulating concrete, while paradoxically seems to float above the building. 

Barely perceptible filigree round steel supports in front of the glass façade, which is embedded in the circumferential roof edge at the upper support, and the wall panels of the ancillary rooms contribute decisively to this static balancing act. 

This construction system as well as the exact execution of the shell with the horizontal formwork pattern of the rough-sawn boards give the building its special and independent character.

Project: Visitor Center Trade Union School Bernau
Architects: Steimle Architekten GmbH
Client: Municipality of Bernau by Berlin
Photographers:  Brigida González