The historic headquarters of Deutscher Herold insurance company, which was acquired by the Zurich Group in 2001, has occupied a prime location in Bonn since the post-war period, bounded by Poppelsdorfer Allee, Bonner Talweg, Heinrich-von-Kleist-Straße, and Prinz-Albert-Straße. After the Zurich Group vacated the site in 2019, the entire district is scheduled for comprehensive redevelopment in the coming years—executed with resource efficiency and future sustainability in mind. RKW Architektur + from Düsseldorf was commissioned to transform the former main administrative building of Deutscher Herold into a contemporary office space while honoring its heritage status. Additionally, a data center that had been situated underground within the block's interior required a new purpose. The overarching principle was to work thoughtfully with the existing fabric: renovation and adaptive reuse were prioritized over demolition to preserve the embodied carbon stored within the building's materials.

The former Deutscher Herold headquarters defines the district's character from afar, standing prominently visible along Poppelsdorfer Allee. This two-winged structure features neoclassical natural stone facades on both street-facing sides. Designed by Bonn architect Josef Kofferath, it was erected in 1949/50 for the insurance company that had relocated to West Germany just years earlier. With a gross floor area of 10,000 m², the building required its architectural integrity to be fully restored. This undertaking presented considerable challenges that extended far beyond aesthetic updating. In particular, contaminated flooring materials had to be remediated where walls had been installed, ultimately necessitating comprehensive floor slab restoration and, in certain areas, complex ceiling replacements. Beyond installing new sanitary facilities, the project also required preparation for potential multi-tenant use. Simultaneously, close coordination with heritage conservation authorities ensured that numerous historically significant details were preserved—including the foyer with its mosaic and natural stone cladding, and the heavy bronze ceiling fixtures. The aluminum windows that had been added later were replaced with high-quality wooden sash windows.

The gable wall of the main building along Poppelsdorfer Allee was treated with equal thoughtfulness: the sharp edge created between the natural stone facade and the adjacent demolished structure was deliberately left exposed rather than visually softened. This approach makes the building's transformation visibly apparent and serves as an authentic marker of change. A new tenant has already been secured: Bonn University will occupy the building going forward. The two underground levels of the former data center will be converted into a kindergarten, set to open in late 2024. For this purpose, the structure will be partially excavated and extensively opened toward the interior courtyard. Each of these projects demonstrates, in its own way, how responsible adaptive reuse preserves embodied carbon and enables sustainable district and project development with exemplary impact.

www.rkw.plus

Photography Credits:

Christian Köster
www.koester-fotografie.de
Anton Kolev

(Published in CUBE Cologne Bonn 04|23)