Redesign Foyer Bundeskunsthalle

HPP Architects have created a new foyer at the Federal Art and Exhibition Hall respecting the existing building using unobtrusive fixtures. The clarity of the hall has been retained. Illuminated perspex cubes provide for easy orientation.

Düsseldorf, 24th June 2014. The Federal Art and Exhibition Hall - the Bundeskunsthalle, on Bonn’s Museum Mile is one of Germany’s most frequented museums. As of today the streams of visitors will pass through the foyer that HPP Architects have just redesigned.

The Bundeskunsthalle was designed by the Viennese architect Gustav Peichl. Since opening in 1992 the museum has shown a variety of exhibitions of art and cultural treasures from all over the world. 18 years later the foyer was sorely in need of restructuring; the exhibition space had taken on a life of its own. So, in 2010 a competition was held to find the new design. HPP were initially awarded 2nd prize but were commissioned to implement their design at the review stage.

HPP’s restructuring of the functional areas shows great respect for Peichl’s design and is based on the movement of visitors through the space. Project Partner Claudia Roggenkämper’s and Interior Designer Wolfgang Miazgowski’s design pays tribute to the original design intent of the space that takes secondary importance to the exhibitions. The materials used for the fittings have been starkly reduced, allowing the character of the foyer, once again, to be defined by the sinuous glass façade that cuts through the almost exactly squared space.

The jury said as much in the awarding protocol: “the design submitted unreservedly respects the foyer situation achieved by Peichl.”

Cloakroom and lockers have been positioned opposite the main entrance within matt perspex cubes. The illuminated perspex cubes housing the ticket and audio-guide desks work as natural orientation points within the foyer.

The jury lead by Prof. Eckhard Gerber stated: “further functions such as the art shop and café opposite are integrated into the erstwhile cloakroom such that the high central space of the foyer can actually be kept free of fixtures and mobile elements. This is the design’s most significant achievement: the space has been designed such that the clarity of the hall itself and the temporary art exhibits therein can be enjoyed at the same time as the normal foyer functions without hindering either.”

Due to the minimal amount of building work necessary during opening hours, HPP’s design achieved a reduction in the personnel costs originally envisaged and the danger of damage was reduced due to the reduction in set-up, dismantling, transport and interim storage procedures and costs. The new foyer was completed in April 2014 and has now been documented by photographer Ralph Richter.