Caramel architektInnen

Description

The Space and Its History

What does re-use mean, and how does sustainable building truly work? The starting point is a quiet courtyard with a hall – once a garage and workshop, preceded by a carriage depot and stables. For generations, the building served mobility in many forms, always in the background. Today, a 1950s replacement structure with a barrel vault (5.5 metres high) and skylights stands on the site, long vacant and now transformed into a new workplace. The challenge lies in engaging with the existing structure: How to create contemporary workspaces within a volume that offers no clear framework? Questions guide the design: Where do we work, communicate, withdraw? Leave it open or structure it? We choose a shared, single-level workspace without hierarchies. Auxiliary spaces line the edges, while the centre remains open. The process stays adaptive: during demolition, components are preserved rather than discarded. Brick walls, murals and traces of former use emerge. A sealed ramp is rediscovered, uncovered, and transformed into a stepped forum – a new focal point for exchange. The existing structure thus becomes both resource and inspiration.

Materials and Atmosphere

Re-use shapes everything: steel beams, railings and doors are reused, complemented by salvaged elements and leftover materials. Much remains raw – screed floors, exposed installations, visible services. Acoustic plaster made from recycled paper creates a calm grey-beige atmosphere, accented with corn yellow, forming an open, welcoming workspace.