The headquarters of the Deutscher Herold insurance company, which was acquired by the Zurich Group in 2001, has grown in Bonn since the post-war period between Poppelsdorfer Allee, Bonner Talweg, Heinrich-von-Kleist-Straße and Prinz-Albert-Straße. The district, which was abandoned by the Zurich Group in 2019, is to be successively renovated over the next few years in a resource-saving and future-oriented manner. RKW Architektur + from Düsseldorf was commissioned to revitalize the former main administration building of Deutscher Herold into a modern office location in line with the preservation order. At the same time, a data center, which was located underground inside the block, was to find a new use. The focus here was on dealing with the existing substance - renovation and conversion was preferable to demolition in order to avoid releasing the grey energy stored in the material.

The main administration building of the former Deutscher Herold forms the face of the quarter from afar, prominently visible on Poppelsdorfer Allee. The two-winged building has a neoclassical natural stone façade on both sides of the street. It was built in 1949/50 according to plans by Bonn architect Josef Kofferath for the insurer, which had relocated to West Germany a few years earlier. The building, which has a gross floor area of 10,000 m², was to be restored to its former glory. This was accompanied by a series of challenges that went beyond mere visual rejuvenation. Among other things, contaminated floors on which walls had been placed had to be remediated. This renovation then resulted in a complete refurbishment of the storey ceilings and even a complicated ceiling replacement in some areas. In addition to new sanitary facilities, preparations also had to be made for possible multi-tenant use. At the same time, however, many details worthy of protection were to be preserved in close coordination with the conservation authorities - such as the foyer with mosaics and natural stone cladding or the heavy bronze ceiling chandeliers. The retrofitted aluminum windows, on the other hand, were replaced with high-quality wooden mullion windows.

The gable wall of the main building on Poppelsdorfer Allee was also treated with self-confidence: The break between the natural stone façade and a neighboring demolished building was not visually adjusted, but left as it is. In this way, the transformation of the building at this point is visible to the outside world and has an identity-creating effect. A new user has also already been found for the building: The University of Bonn will use the premises in the future. The two underground floors of the former data center, on the other hand, will be used as a daycare centre from the end of 2024. The building will be partially excavated and opened up to the inner courtyard. Each of the two projects thus demonstrates in its own way how sustainable neighborhood and project development can be achieved through the responsible use of grey energy.

www.rkw.plus

Photos:

Christian Köster
www.koester-fotografie.de
Anton Kolev

(Published in CUBE Cologne Bonn 04|23)