On 17 August 2026, construction officially began on the International Youth Heritage Conservation Centre Berlin, on the site of the former Schöneweide railway depot, part of the heritage-protected Ringlokschuppen (roundhouse) grounds.

 At the unveiling of the site sign, representatives of all project partners gathered: for client Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz (German Foundation for Monument Protection), Annika Haby and Erasmus Drücker; for the State of Berlin, Senate Building Director Prof. Petra Kahlfeldt; for the Youth Building Lodge Berlin, its director Henrik Drewes and Florian in der Beeck, who leads the volunteer team on site; for the funding body, the Upper Monument Protection Authority, Anne Ewert; and for the Berlin Senate Department’s building permit review, Christa Brandenburg.

 The new building on Wagner-Régeny-Allee will house workshops for up to 30 volunteers, under the International Youth Community Services (ijgd). ZRS is responsible for architecture, fire protection, energy consulting, structural design and acoustics. The timber skeleton structure features a shed roof and a gable roof; its facade and roofing are largely made from reused components: corrugated sheeting from a former commercial building in Munich, timber battens from historic roof structures, and salvaged windows. Interior walls are infilled with earth blocks, hand-made by the future users themselves.

 Construction takes the form of a hands-on learning site, run in cooperation with Knobelsdorff School and the Youth Building Lodge’s own volunteers.

Photos: ZRS Architekten Ingenieure