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The competition organised by the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR) on behalf of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) as the project sponsor and client for the basic renovation and extension of the plaster moulding shop of the National Museums in Berlin has been decided. At its meeting on 30 November 2022, the jury chaired by Professor Frank Kasprusch awarded first prize to the design by architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp).

The plaster moulding workshop of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin has been housed in a purpose-built building at Sophie-Charlotten-Straße 17/18 in Charlottenburg since the end of the 19th century. Among other things, it houses their mould workshop, painters' studios and depots for the historical moulds and models. Due to the exhausted space potential of the old building and its structural condition, the building is to be completely renovated and extended from the current 5,000 square metres to a total of around 13,000 square metres of gross floor space by means of a new building on the property.

The expansion is also geared towards the recent development of the plaster moulding plant and its future potential: In recent years, it has specialised in the production of high-quality, large and intricate reproductions, which requires a new assembly hall. The new building will also house restoration workshops for the first time, which will enable the unique historical collection to be handled in the best possible way.

In the coming years, the existing building of the plaster moulding shop will be thoroughly renovated and extended to include the new building. The forward-looking production and storage building is also intended to raise the public profile of the Gipsformerei.

The winning design envisages a five-storey extension, whose L-shaped structure delimits the site to the north and west and adds new accents to the clear form of the old building with its striking clinker brick façade. In order to minimise interference with the listed building, the design envisages locating the administration, sales and exhibition areas as well as the showroom and the existing depots in the old building. The workshops and studios as well as special storage rooms will be located in the new building in order to fulfil the requirements in terms of air conditioning, ventilation, preventative fire protection and occupational safety. The new building will be connected to the old building on all levels, largely without thresholds, to ensure smooth operational processes.

With the help of a low-tech concept and optimisation of the building envelope, energy consumption is to be minimised and CO2 emissions and the use of resources reduced. This will be achieved, for example, by minimising the use of materials in the ceiling construction with prefabricated capped ceilings and natural ventilation for energy-optimised basic air conditioning of the building. In addition, predominantly recyclable materials will be used and irreversible connections will be avoided in order to increase the building's ability to be dismantled. The interior walls are made of clay bricks, which create a very stable indoor climate without any additional energy expenditure.

According to the authors of the design - the recently deceased architect Meinhard von Gerkan and Stephan Schütz with Nicolas Pomränke - the design creates a link to the core activities of plaster moulding: a building sculpture is created by pouring a material into moulds and hardening it.

The 2nd prize was awarded to the Berlin office of Felgendreher Olfs Köchling Architekten. Two 3rd prizes were awarded to Backes Zarali Architekten, Basel (Switzerland), and Henchion Reuter Architekten, Berlin. TRU Architekten from Berlin and Bez + Kock Architekten Generalplaner from Stuttgart each received a commendation. In the open two-phase planning competition, 16 entries were selected for the second competition phase from a total of 50 submissions in the first phase.

In addition to freelance architects, the jury included representatives of the authorities and cultural institutions involved in the project. The assessment criteria for this unusual building project focussed on aspects of sustainability. The low-tech principle, which favours robust, low-maintenance structural solutions over complex technical systems and thus makes an important contribution to sustainability, is also to be used for the construction project. Special attention was also paid to functionality; in particular, the requirements of the manufactory in terms of production processes and logistics had to be integrated into the design.

In accordance with the jury's recommendation, the BBR will now enter into contract negotiations with the winners of the 1st prize on behalf of the SPK to commission further planning and realisation.

From 12 January 2023, the architects' designs will be presented to the public in the Ernst-Reuter-Haus, the Berlin headquarters of the BBR; from February onwards, they will be presented at the Kulturforum.

Information on the competition:
www.bbr.bund.de/planungswettbewerb-gipsformerei

Press material for download:
www.bbr.bund.de/presse

Website of the plaster moulding workshop of the National Museums in Berlin:
www.smb.museum/museen-einrichtungen/gipsformerei