New building Heinrich von Kleist Forum Hamm

Cultural and educational center with a central library, adult education center, private university SRH and gastronomy in central city center location, at the station quarter, Willy-Brandt-Platz, in Hamm.

Competition for realization 2007, 1st prize

Performance period: 2007-2010
Service phases: 2-9
GFA: 14,500 m²
Awarded by/Builder: City of Hamm
Pictures: Christian Richters, Münster

The building forms an important urban building block for the revitalization of the station quarter of the City-West in Hamm. The new station quarter was awarded a “Special Mention” of the German Urban Development Prize 2010″.

A common foyer connects the Central Library, Adult Education center and Private University of Applied Sciences (SRH), public event area and cafeteria. The design focus is on the “roofed marketplaces” – multi-story atriums with exposed concrete and embedded wood inlays. The various units with offices and administrative areas communicate with the atria via internal façades according to the “house within a house” principle.

The dimensions and proportions of the natural stone façade integrate the Heinrich von Kleist Forum building into the urban context of the city. The vertical structure with story-high window elements and the interplay of large and small openings create transparency and differentiated rhythm. Reading loggias, as well as a two-story main entrance, accentuate the building in a sculptural way. This structure represents the public character of the new cultural building.

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