2010
Temporary Residence of the German Constitutional Court - Karlsruhe - Germany
While the German Constitutional Court is being renovated, the federal institution needs an appropriate and representative temporary accommodation.
The choice fell to three staff buildings and a lecture hall of a former military complex from the 1950s.
The administrative buildings could be readied without structural changes.
For the representative building that holds the large assembly and plenary halls, security gates, a large foyer, as well as a waiting area had to be integrated.
The architects kept their interventions and additions throughout the building ensemble to a minimum, like a kind of “architectural acupuncture.”
The formal language of their new work clearly contrasts with the old: the new white entrance construction, for example, opens like a funnel into a glass hallway.
Far from being overpowering, its sophisticated integration with the original structure creates a unified whole.
Once the Constitutional Court is gone, use of the buildings will be taken over by Karlsruhe University.