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November 29th, 2024
"lingering, time-cut, circular"

was the title of Kilian Kada’s presentation at the International Architecture Forum 2024 in Hamburg on 23 November 2024 on the topic of forward-looking architecture with a focus on sustainability and innovation.

He showed how circular construction and the intelligent use of existing buildings are driving the building revolution and called for existing buildings to be seen as valuable assets. Using the firm’s own projects as examples, he showed how climate protection, economic efficiency and architectural quality can go hand in hand.

posted by
Eva Syllwasschy
November 26th, 2024
Circular Changemaker

As networks are important! Our office kadawittfeldarchitektur has been recognized as a Circular Changemaker for its special commitment to circular construction by the Madaster network, the world’s largest network for circular construction.

KEMPEN KRAUSE Engineers, with whom we have a good working relationship, including in the Aachen Building Experts innovation network, also received an award. We are convinced that major tasks such as climate-sensitive construction can only be mastered together; knowledge transfer and the exchange of ideas are essential for this.

We are delighted to have been recognized by the Madaster network!

The photo shows our partner Jasna Moritz together with our associated partner Burkhard Floors.

posted by
Elisa Uthmann
November 18th, 2024
Building Relations 2024

On the 16th of November we held a workshop and ‘Talk & Tackle Portfolio Consultation’ together with students from RWTH Aachen University as part of the Building Relations Event. A big thank you to Christian, Wouter, Mai, Marlon, Pavlina and Tommy who took the time on Saturday to represent the office and supervise the hard-working students in the workshop.

November 15th, 2024
BDA Partner Day in our office!

We were delighted to host this year’s BDA Partner Day on the topic of ‘Right to Repair’ in our Aachen office.

How do the right to repair and the revisability of technical building equipment affect architecture and building products?

This was the key question we explored during the event. The event started with an exciting contribution from Jens Schumacher, part of the EU Commission, followed by a critical impulse from Annabelle von Reutern, TOMAS Transformation of Material and Space, and a contribution from Nathalie Hans, kadawittfeldarchitektur.

Many thanks to all participants for the lively discussions and exciting perspectives!

posted by
Eva Syllwasschy
November 14th, 2024
Jasna Moritz at this year's Forum:Bau

What culture do we need to achieve sustainable construction? Jasna Moritz will be exploring this question at this year’s Forum:Bau on 27 November in the Great Hall of the Zeche Zollverein or online.

One of her central theses: Sustainable construction is complex. It requires expanded expertise and qualified decision-making aids – but also dialogue, rethinking and digitalisation as key drivers of the construction industry’s turnaround.

For more information and tickets: https://holcim.guestmanagement.solutions/

November 8th, 2024
Young architects call for climate change in construction!

Our colleague Patricia Gückel was a speaker at the Young Architects’ Day organised by the NRW Chamber of Architects.

The young planners adopted a declaration calling for sustainable, resource-conserving and climate-friendly construction.

October 30th, 2024
3rd prize in the 'Koblenz cable car station' competition!

In 2011, a spectacular cable car was built for the German Horticultural Show (BUGA), allowing visitors to experience a glide from the centre of Koblenz across the Rhine to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress opposite. The people of Koblenz did not want to give up this opportunity after the BUGA – the cable car remained, initially for a limited period until 2026.

The temporary operation is now to be made permanent. As the current valley station obstructs the view of the Romanesque St Castor’s Basilica and its connection to the Rhine, thus jeopardising the status of the ‘Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage Site’, the competition sought proposals for a new design.

Our design is characterised by simplicity and clarity. The serial arrangement of prefabricated frames creates a permeable, transparent structure and reduces the building volume to the geometric minimum. According to the different functional requirements – cashier and social areas, control centre and technical facilities – both stations are divided into three differentiated bodies and their uses are made visible. The viewer’s perception is constantly changing as he moves around – light and shadow, inward and outward views alternate, creating pleasantly lit spaces.

The mountain station is based on the same design principle – the overarching, design-defining framework structure unites the existing individual buildings into a single whole. Again, the three building volumes differ in size and function.

Special attention was paid to the durability and reusability of the materials used. A modular system of prefabricated, repetitive building elements, as well as the simplicity and detachability of the connection points, allow for disassembly and reuse. Local mineral aggregates reduce the CO2 emissions of the concrete components and match the colour of the surroundings. The roofs are greened and have a positive influence on the microclimate.

October 22nd, 2024
DGNB Platinum Certificate for Neuland Neuss

The new Neuland Neuss district received the DGNB Platinum Certificate at Expo Real in Munich. Our project planning had previously been recognised as a KlimaQuartier.NRW.

The urban residential area, with around 230 residential units, is characterised by its socio-ecological orientation and high social mix.

The high thermal insulation standard of the buildings, with a transmission heat loss of 0.25 W/m2K, a cold local heating network with efficient system technology, geothermal probes and brine-water heat pumps, as well as a climate-friendly power supply with photovoltaic systems, ensure low CO2 emissions.

In addition, the neighbourhood is planned to be car-free, with a good infrastructure for cycling and extensive green spaces.

The investor is P+B Neuss GmbH & Co KG.

posted by
Eva Syllwasschy
October 17th, 2024
InnoDom Cologne on the cover of the new AIT issue

AIT published InnoDom Cologne in its October issue focusing on “Office and Administration” and featured it on the cover.

The start-up center follows the idea of not wanting to be a conventional office building, but a think tank with an industrial workshop character that not only invites people to work and tinker, but also to linger, experience and organize events. Highlights include two striking, monochrome value-added rooms designed in yellow and blue, which offer a wide range of possible uses and communicate the unconventional start-up character of the “think tank” to the Cologne cityscape like a stage set.

Click here for a detailed project presentation.

October 8th, 2024
Dialogue at Expo Real with NRW Construction Minister Ina Scharrenbach about our Neuland Neuss neighborhood development

Together with Managing Director Gerd Hebebrand, Project Manager Karolin Maucher from the P+B Group and Mayor Reiner Breuer from Neuss, we presented our ecological, social and sustainable Neuland Neuss neighborhood development to NRW Construction Minister Ina Scharrenbach.

The Neuland Neuss urban quarter is being built on a 10.5-hectare conversion site right next to Neuss main railway station, with around 450 apartments of various sizes and housing types for all generations. At least 33% of the new living space is publicly subsidized. The quarter meets high sustainability requirements and has already been awarded the KlimaQuartier.NRW label and pre-certified as a DGNB Platinum Sustainable Quarter.

September 27th, 2024
#visit kadawittfeldarchitektur at Expo Real 2024!

Visit us at our stand B1.311 in Munich from October 7 to 9, when the future of construction will be discussed at Europe’s largest trade fair for the real estate industry. The focus will be on topics such as sustainable construction, innovative building concepts and the development of retail and logistics properties.

Together with 27 other companies, we look forward to presenting innovative solutions for the architecture of the future at the Aachen 1a stand and exchanging ideas with you!

September 6th, 2024
InnoDom Cologne featured in the new detail issue

We are delighted that our InnoDom Cologne project has been featured in the architecture magazine DETAIL under the “New Work” typology!

The InnoDom Cologne start-up center follows the motto: Keep it simple! The participatory building developed for the Cologne University Foundation offers an adaptable working environment that promotes creative exchange between start-ups, university and business.

In addition to flexible work areas, there is space to linger, experience and organize events. The striking LIKE-ITs in yellow and Bondi blue with panoramic glazing make the inner workings of the think tank visible to the city.

The five-storey building has a façade of vertical aluminum pilaster strips that signal the combination of creativity and productivity from afar.

Sustainability plays a major role here: from recyclable materials and energy-efficient technology to furniture with an extended life cycle.

posted by
Clemens Kollmetz
September 5th, 2024
Nomination for German Corporate Sustainability Award 2025

We are one of three companies nominated for the German Corporate Sustainability Award in the Architecture and Civil Engineering category.
We are delighted!

This recognition confirms that we are on the right track with our office’s focus on climate-sensitive projects, our pioneering work in circular construction and our environmentally and socially responsible management.

We are aware of the construction industry’s responsibility for climate change. With every new construction project, we try to minimise our carbon footprint, use existing embodied energy, conserve resources, increase biodiversity and think in terms of cycles.

For us, this is closely linked to the way we build in existing buildings. The building stock is an important witness to past eras and a storehouse of valuable materials. Preserving existing buildings, discovering hidden potential through careful analysis and reprogramming them in a positive way through careful conversion or extension is what drives us.

We are looking forward to the award ceremony on 28 November in Düsseldorf.

posted by
Elisa Uthmann
August 27th, 2024
Ground-breaking ceremony for the LVR at Ottoplatz in Cologne

The ground-breaking ceremony for the new office and administration building with underground car park for the Landschaftsverband Rheinland (LVR) at Ottoplatz in Cologne-Deutz took place today.

The highly visible building complex, consisting of an 18-storey tower and an adjoining five- to six-storey shell, will provide more than 1,000 workplaces.

With catering facilities in the basement, the building faces Ottoplatz and supports its urban qualities. The spacious foyer, which connects the shell to the tower, forms the entrance to the office tower. Public areas such as conference rooms and a cafeteria are grouped around a central atrium and provide access to the southern office floors with a green courtyard.

posted by
Eva Syllwasschy
August 20th, 2024
Start of facade installation at our Hoffmann SE construction site

A new headquarters with an innovation centre and 1,250 workplaces is being built for Hoffmann SE near the future district centre of Munich-Freiham. The five-storey polygonal building encloses a green inner courtyard and creates a striking urban landmark at the north-east corner with a 14-storey tower. On the east side, a two-storey arcade forms a buffer to the street, which can be used by passers-by as a weather-protected route to the neighbouring Freiham S-Bahn station to the south. The main entrance at the top of the building leads to the foyer, which is connected to the customer experience world with the innovation centre and multi-purpose areas such as the conference area and restaurant. The new Hoffmann workspaces extend from the third floor into the office tower. Terraces in the inner courtyard and on the roof provide opportunities for outdoor working. Clients, visitors and employees can benefit from the varied greenery of the outdoor areas, which has many positive ecological effects, from biodiversity and water retention to improving the microclimate.

posted by
Eva Syllwasschy
August 1st, 2024
3rd place in the competition for the "Maison Killy"!

Val d’Isère, a small mountain village in the French Alps with around 1,500 inhabitants at an altitude of approximately 2,000 meters, is often referred to as the “Mecca of skiing”. As the venue for the 1992 Winter Olympics, Val d’Isère welcomes up to 25,000 ski enthusiasts throughout the winter season.

Our “Maison Killy” design is envisioned as the future centerpiece of Val d’Isère, blending harmoniously into the natural surroundings. The urban planning concept is based on the idea of detaching the building from the Olympique cable car station. This gives the multifunctional structure its own identity. The ski slope to the south frames the project and creates a clear, accessible connection between the village center and the cable car.

The roof is a reinterpretation of the seasons. It echoes the historic roofscape of the stone roofs of Val d’Isère and offers a dynamic morphology that opens up towards Bellevarde and Solaise, offering framed views of the village. Designed in layers, the ground floor acts as a mediator between the varying heights of the terrain and provides ground-level access from the snow field to the upper floor.

July 30th, 2024
Mehr ist mehr

Our InnoDom Cologne project was featured in a detailed article in md-mag. We are pleased about the successful article, in which the two project managers Linda Leers and Daniel Trappen also have their say. The article can be accessed via the following link.

posted by
Elisa Uthmann
July 20th, 2024
We have been nominated for the German Sustainability Award!

We are one of 13 companies nominated for the German Sustainability Award in the “Architecture and Civil Engineering” category. The prize is awarded to industry pioneers who demonstrate particularly effective, successful and exemplary contributions to transformation.
Relevant aspects were both our climate-sensitive projects, including our pioneering work in circular construction, as well as our environmentally conscious, socially responsible corporate governance.
We are delighted to have been nominated and are looking forward to the jury’s decision, which will be announced at the award ceremony at the end of November.

Last year, Werner Sobek AG received the award.

Photo 1: RAG-Stiftung and RAG AG Zollverein, ©Nikolai Benner

July 11th, 2024
Nomination World Architecture Festival 2024

We are thrilled to anounce that the InnoDom Cologne has been shortlisted in Best Completed Buildings: Inside Workplace (Large) for the 2024 World Architecture Festival Awards. We’ll be presenting our project live at the World Architecture Festival taking place from 6 to 8 November 2024 at Marina Bay Sands. See you in Singapore!

Read more here: World Architecture Festival 2024 – Home Page

July 9th, 2024
InnoDom Cologne nominated for DAM Award 2025!

The InnoDom Cologne is one of 112 projects nominated by an independent jury for the DAM Prize 2025. We are delighted!

Every year since 2007, Deutsches Architekturmuseum has honoured the best recently completed building projects in Germany with this award. The nominations are based on proposals from regional experts and architectural chambers.

More information and the list of nominees can be found here: dam-online.de.

Photo: ©Jens Kirchner