The “Bauhof” is a workshop complex of the International Youth Heritage Conservation Centre Berlin (Internationale Jugendbauhütte Berlin) for conducting practical seminars and projects in the fields of traditional craftsmanship and monument preservation. The new building is part of a larger ensemble on the site of the former Schöneweide railway depot, an industrial heritage site. It comprises a woodworking shop, a forge and metal workshop as well as a shared lounge. The workshop building is just one component of the overall project “DampflokWerk”, a future seminar center that will include accommodation, a canteen and seminar rooms for training and educational programs in traditional crafts, industrial and railway culture. As part of this project, the restoration of three auxiliary buildings and outdoor areas on the Schöneweide railway depot site is likewise planned.
The new building is designed primarily with natural and reused materials and components. It will be constructed as a timber frame structure with two different roof types: a sawtooth roof over the main hall and a gable roof over the side wing. The roofing and façade will include approximately 1.000 m² of reused corrugated iron, previously used as façade cladding for a commercial building in Munich. On the ground floor, the façade cladding will consist of reused structural timber from old pine roof trusses. Future maintenance work can be carried out by the users themselves using offcuts from the on-site woodworking shop. The infill of the timber-frame interior walls will be built using earth bricks, which will also be produced by the users themselves.
During the search for reusable building components, various dismantling projects within the city were identified, stakeholders contacted, and waste disposal processes reconsidered. In cooperation with different partners, wood preservation assessments were carried out, measurements taken, logistics organized, and — together with the future users and owners — the further use of existing resources was determined. The construction work will largely be carried out by volunteers from the Youth Building Lodge, in cooperation with the Knobelsdorff School, Berlin.
Video report on the International Youth Heritage Conservation Centre Berlin: rbb DER TAG in Berlin & Brandenburg: Bauen mit Zukunft – Werkstoff Lehm
