Heidelberg Congress Center Building, Baden-Württemberg Conventon Venue Germany, German Architecture Images

Heidelberg Congress Center in Baden-Württemberg

31 May 2022

Design: Degelo Architekten

Location: Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Photos: Degelo Architekten

Heidelberg Congress Center in Germany

The shell is complete, the scaffolding has been removed from most external areas: for the first time a real impression of what the new Heidelberg Congress Center will look like can be made. Just a couple of minutes by foot from the main railway station, in the city’s new “Bahnstadt” (“Railway city”) quarter, a generous event location for conferences and congresses is being developed.

A site like this has been sorely missed in Heidelberg, which has such a focus on science and research, but thanks to this IBA-project that will now be rectified.

The Basel-based architecture bureau Degelo Architekten had won the competition for the project already back in 2017: with an expressive building, which initially appears compact and rather plain on the outside, but reveals a high degree of complexity and subtleness once inside.

The facade is made – just like the famous castle towering over the city – from local red sandstone which on closer inspection reveals a slightly waved structuring.

This evokes impressions of a theatre curtain, and the resulting interplay between light and shadow upon its surface provides the otherwise massive stone with a touch of lightness.

This lightness is literally taken to extremes on the inside of the building, especially in the full-height conference hall.

Here daylight enters through skylights that are arranged along the sides of the vaulted ceiling, making the white exposed concrete look more like an unfurling, lightweight fabric. Daylight also enters the tall foyer from above, illuminating pathways, balconies and galleries: the result is an airy, almost dematerialised effect.

A clever arrangement of spaces and differentiating proportions creates exciting spatial experiences and visual connections.

The skylights also reduce the necessity for large window areas on the sides of the two-storey building – with the exception of the recessed, almost full-height glazed entrances, which open in a stately, but also welcoming manner.

Architects: Degelo Architekten – https://www.degelo.net/

Photography: Degelo Architekten

Heidelberg Congress Center, Germany images / information received 310522

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