Bildungshaus Norderstedt

In the German town of Norderstedt, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, the realization of the Bildungshaus is underway. Bringing together the adult education center Volkshochschule Norderstedt, the City Archive, and the City Library, it will attract citizens from the entire region. The Bildungshaus is centrally located next to a huge shopping center, a subway hub and a secondary school. Mid 2018 the Berlin-based architects Richter Musikowski won the architectural contest with their spectacular design for the building. With a winner and a clear path ahead, interior design can now take shape.

To create this social dock for urban recharging, we teamed up with local partners to help us out. To craft a space where running into the unexpected is business as usual, we had to make sure to understand its visitors. First, our specially developed card game was set up and played with (potential) users to learn about their needs for activities, facilities and references about how a welcoming place should look and feel.

Second, keeping these results in mind, we teamed up with representatives of the Volkshochschule Norderstedt, the City Archive and the Norderstedt Library to develop an interior design that fits the needs of its future users. We did so during the Design Thinking process, in collaboration with specialist Julia Bergmann, as part of our Design Workshop Week. This allowed us to work locally with our partners on this special project, to truly implement the local DNA into our designs.

While the temporary abstract name ‘Bildungshaus’  reflects the political and administrative origins of the idea, the stakes are high for the Haus itself. No dullness is expected here: the hybrid Haus aims to become a melting pot of people, experiences, skills, learning processes and information, all gathered around a decent cup of coffee at the in-house café, intermingling on the various stairs connecting the split-level design.

Unlike traditional adult learning centers with boring hallways and classrooms, the Haus will be anything but that. Traditional archives tend to fade into the invisible, but the Haus will increase the visibility of the local archive. While a traditional library is a depository for media, the Haus should become a medium itself. Combining these ingredients creates a new, contemporary blend: the Bildungshaus Norderstedt as a welcoming third place for learning, gathering and inspiration for all.