The Schildepark Bad Hersfeld
The Schildepark is on the site of the former Benno Schilde company on the outskirts of the old town of Bad Hersfeld – an inner city park landscape with four large, historically valuable brick buildings from the late 19th century. The site was bought by the health and festival town of Bad Hersfeld in October 2006.
The way in which this former industrial brownfield site, in the heart of the city, has been re-used, is a first for the county of Hessen.
A central project of the Schildepark, in addition to the many parks along the banks of the once covered over river Geis and a square with water games as a new central area between the listed buildings, is the transformation of the former research and development hall into an extraordinary venue which will be used for concerts, theatre and the Bad Hersfeld festivals.
Another vital part of the overall project is the conversion of the so-called “Stockwerksfabrik”. In the south wing there is a learning and adventure world, in the north wing, an education centre with corporate training centre. In the new culture and education centre, communication and language are connected in a playfully entertaining and educational way, in the unique hands-on exhibition titled “wortreich” (rich in words). In addition, another building of historic importance is being developed as a university centre.
The total redevelopment of the site is currently the biggest building site in Bad Hersfeld. The first areas like the central square (Wette und Küneke), learning and adventure world “wortreich” in the Stockwerksfabrik (Kleineberg and Partner – Building, Petri and Tiemann / molitor – Exhibition) and a car park (Hersfeld architect Frank Dorbritz) were already open in 2011, well ahead of estimated completion dates. The completion of the overall site works is expected in 2012.
Das architektonische und freiraumplanerische Gesamtkonzept der Architekten Kleineberg und Partner aus Braunschweig und des Landschaftsplanungsbüros Wette und Küneke aus Göttingen gilt durch seine Kombination von Stadterneuerung, Rückbau, Erhaltung von Industriedenkmälern und Entwicklung von nachhaltigen Zukunftsnutzungen als modellhaft. Geschaffen wird ein innerstädtischer Erlebnis- und Freizeitraum.
Die Planungen sahen dabei vor, 34 wenig repräsentative Gebäude und Gebäudeteile auf dem Gelände kontrolliert rückzubauen und ehemals versiegelte Flächen zu ansprechenden Parkanlagen zu gestalten. Der durch das Gelände fließende, bisher vollständig überbaute Fluss Geis wurde dabei behutsam freigelegt und renaturiert (Planungsbüro Wagu, Kassel).
The event hall
The former research and development hall is a listed industrial building: A brick building with strong architectural expression.The red brick foundation walls erected in 1912 were in good condition, but the windows, roofs and the interior of the production site were however in need of a radical modernisation concept if the new site was to be used as a venue.
The old wooden windows, which were beyond repair, were replaced with windows from Schüco’s ADS 90 PL.SI series which have specially thin, conservation approved profiles which retain the industrial character of the former factory building. In the same way the roof lights were replaced with Schüco’s add-on construction, AOS 60 and roof claps, AWS 57 RO with thermally insulated and noise protected glazing.
The Stockwerksfabrik
The focus for the architects planning the conversion of the Stockwerk factory, was the exposure of the building’s architectural qualities in the context of an energy saving refurbishment. The roof of the building from 1904 was sealed and insulated. Internal insulating plaster was added to the exterior walls, the technical building plant including heating, electrics, lighting conductors and bathrooms was completely renewed. The damaged and largely missing windows were replaced with thermally insulated aluminum windows from the series AWS 75.SI with custom profiles and the add-on construction Schüco FW 50+.SI was used for the façade glazing.
The redevelopment of the site is planned to be finished in 2014 and will give the city of Bad Hersfeld a new urban quality: An inner city park with pioneering cultural and educational attractions, enhanced by the historically relevant and carefully restored late 19th century industrial buildings.