The Josef-Schwarz-Schule in Heilbronn has been nominated for the German Sustainability Award for Architecture (Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitspreis Architektur).
This nomination recognizes a project that combines high-performance wood-hybrid construction with an open, terraced landscape. Rather than creating standard, isolated structures, the design features a single building composed of three terraced volumes interconnected by an elevated schoolyard plateau that serves as a protected setting for movement, social interaction, and learning. Designed with natural, CO2-storing materials, a low-energy climate concept, and flexible learning studios, the campus exemplifies how structural efficiency and environmental performance can directly shape contemporary educational environments.
We are among 10 selected projects that reflect the DNP’s vision of architectural quality as a natural expression of sustainability. The winner will be announced at the Forum Nachhaltige Architektur this October in Mannheim. We look forward to the announcement. View the nominees here.
Thank you to our partners, and everyone involved in this project.
Partner Michael Innerarity presents the National Unity Center at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026.
How can architecture contribute to rebuilding a society? This question was at the heart of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 in Gdańsk, where the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) presented the National Unity Center, a project that places education, lifelong learning, and human connection at the centre of Ukraine's long-term recovery. Together with UCU, Behnisch Architekturbüro is proud to contribute to a place designed not simply as a building, but as an investment in people.
The National Unity Center builds on a long-standing collaboration between Behnisch Architekturbüro and the Ukrainian Catholic University. Following the completion of the Metropolitan Sheptytsky Center in 2017, the new project represents the next chapter in a shared commitment to creating places that foster learning, dialogue, and community. Nearly a decade after shaping an important part of the UCU campus, this collaboration continues with a vision for architecture that supports both people and society.
Located adjacent to the existing campus, the National Unity Center has been conceived as a living-learning environment that integrates education, residential life, and collaborative spaces within one coherent architectural framework. The seven-storey building will provide approximately 6,000 square metres of flexible learning environments, co-working spaces, residential units, meeting areas, and public facilities designed to support a wide range of users and activities. At its core, however, the project is not about a building. It is about people. The Center is intended for those who will play an active role in rebuilding Ukraine: veterans and their families, internally displaced people, educators, entrepreneurs, public-sector leaders, students, and international partners. It offers a place where knowledge can be shared, new skills developed, and relationships strengthened across disciplines, generations, and regions.
Its educational vision is built around four interconnected pathways—Upskilling, Reskilling, Re-enter, and Return—establishing the Center as a platform for lifelong learning and institutional renewal. The project reflects the understanding that recovery is not only about physical reconstruction, but about strengthening human capital, leadership, and civic responsibility that will shape Ukraine's future.
During the Ukraine Recovery Conference, UCU presented the project to an international audience of government representatives, businesses, institutions, and civil society organisations. As part of the event, the Ukrainian Catholic University and Behnisch Architekturbüro signed a Memorandum of Cooperation, reaffirming their shared commitment to bringing the project to life. Michael Innerarity presented the architectural vision behind the design, emphasising flexibility, adaptability, and the creation of spaces capable of responding to evolving educational needs for decades to come.
The architectural concept reflects principles that have long guided Behnisch Architekturbüro's work: openness, adaptability, and environmental responsibility. Passive façade shading, integrated photovoltaic panels, and carefully considered daylight strategies reduce energy demand while creating healthy, comfortable learning environments. Sustainability is embedded in the building's performance and in the everyday experience of its users.
The National Unity Center is a place where people will learn, reconnect, exchange ideas, and build trust. A place designed to strengthen the human networks that will shape Ukraine's future.
The Josef-Schwarz-Schule is part of this year’s Heinze ArchitekturAWARD and is currently in the running for the Audience Award.
Bringing together education and sustainability, the project creates a forward-looking campus designed to support contemporary learning. Timber-hybrid construction, regionally sourced materials, geothermal energy, and photovoltaic systems contribute to a healthy and resource-efficient environment. At the same time, the architecture fosters collaboration, community, and a diverse range of learning experiences.
Partner Florian Waller knows the Deutschlandstipendium from both perspectives: as a former scholarship holder and now part of our annual support for the program. Together with our colleague Cigdem Gündogdu, he attended the recent ceremony. This year, the scholarship supports Julian, a fourth-semester Architecture and Urban Planning student. He had named BEHNISCH ARCHITEKTURBÜRO as his preferred sponsor during the application process. For architecture students, model making can involve considerable material costs. The scholarship therefore offers practical support for Julian’s studies and gives him additional scope to focus on his academic work. Students interested in applying can find further information here: Universität Stuttgart
With our new name Behnisch Architekturbüro and the launch of behnisch.com, we mark an important step in the ongoing development of our practice. Across our four locations, we are strengthening our identity as one office, presenting our work and approach in a more unified way. Both reflect a clearer identity and our continued commitment to sustainability, transparency, and sharing knowledge. The new website is conceived as an open and evolving platform that offers comprehensive access to how we work. It brings together our projects, people, processes, and research in a clear and intuitive structure, designed for both mobile and desktop use.
Sustainability is at the center of the platform. An expanded series of detailed case studies gives deeper insight into design strategies, environmental concepts, and the measurable impact of our projects. These are complemented by a resources section, which brings together research, publications, and insights developed within the office, alongside external sources that inform our work. The website is designed to reveal connections across projects and ideas. Through fluid navigation and closely linked content, users can move between projects, themes, and typologies, from cultural and educational buildings to workplaces and sports facilities. This allows ideas, collaborations, and developments to be understood across different scales.
Our approach to sustainability also extends into the digital experience. The website includes an energy saving mode that reduces data usage and energy consumption during browsing. behnisch.com is not a static portfolio but a working platform for clients, collaborators, researchers, and a wider public. It offers insight into the thinking behind our projects and creates space to explore the topics that continue to shape our practice. For more details, the full official statement is available here.
Today, our Partner Angie Müller Puch is speaking at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences as part of the Master's programme Resource Optimized Building.
In her lecture, "Happiness with Less," she explores how sustainable building can inspire creativity. Through a variety of project examples, from simple building approaches and material reuse to circular construction, she highlights different ways of building more resourcefully. Rather than promoting a single approach, she emphasizes that sustainable design is about finding the right solution for each project by carefully balancing its context, available resources, and unique challenges.
Many thanks to Professor Anja Willmann for the invitation. We look forward to sharing ideas and engaging with the next generation of architects.
Join us at Architektouren this Sunday, June 28, for guided tours through Sportpark Ost in the east of Regensburg. The ensemble of athletics hall and indoor pool forms a clear, welcoming civic place shaped by generous daylight, a legible structure, and barrier-free access. Sustainability is embedded from the ground up. Recycled concrete from the former barracks next door and load-bearing timber support a circular approach and future adaptability. Green facades and selected green roofs enhance the microclimate, while captured rainwater irrigates planting and sports turf. Efficient ventilation, natural night cooling in the athletics hall, and on-site renewable energy systems reduce operational demand and strengthen resilience.
The project received the Bavarian Chamber of Architects ’KlimaKulturKompetenz’ recognition for Energy Efficiency, Climate Adaptation, and Accessibility (2026).
As part of the Campus Steinfurt development for FH Münster, façade elements from a building currently being dismantled in Munich will be reused. The materials have been assessed and approved by experts for their further use. The reused trapezoidal metal sheets will form the façade of the new Building Q.
The concept extends beyond the building envelope. Offcuts from the façade will be integrated into the interior design of the foyer. They will be used for flexible furniture such as benches and stools, mobile planting systems, and wayfinding elements.
This approach demonstrates how circular construction can be implemented within a public building process, from dismantling and material preparation to reintegration in a new architectural context. A step towards reducing CO₂ emissions and rethinking the lifecycle of building materials.
Last weekend, we celebrated the reopening and extension of Buchheim Museum der Phantasie at Lake Starnberg, marking 25 years since the museum first opened in Günter Behnisch’s iconic building in 2001. The anniversary exhibitions reflect both the museum’s history and its future, including “Revolt of Colors. Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and the Legacy of Die Brücke,” on view until mid November. Visitors can also see the original architectural model from the 1990s together with a preview of the museum’s new extension.
While the full reopening is scheduled for the end of the year, selected parts of the museum are already accessible to visitors again during the ongoing refurbishment works. The refurbishment and extension continue the original vision of the museum while creating new spaces for exhibitions, education, and the “Labor der Phantasie.”
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening weekend and celebrated this new chapter of the museum with us.
Can reclaimed materials shape the future of architecture? The Youth and Recreation Center Sternentor in Hohenmölsen offers a compelling answer. As a pilot project for circular construction, it demonstrates how existing resources can be transformed into meaningful, future oriented architecture. Developed within the EU research initiative RE:CREATE and initiated by the Chair of Circular Construction at BTU Cottbus Senftenberg in collaboration with the City of Hohenmölsen, the project reuses precast concrete elements from a former GDR era housing complex, giving them a new architectural life. Set on the site of a former outdoor swimming pool, the new center will become an open meeting place for all generations, combining indoor and outdoor activities within a distinctive natural landscape. By conserving embodied energy and reducing CO2 emissions by over 90 percent compared to conventional construction, Sternentor highlights the immense potential of reuse, bridging environmental responsibility with social impact and architectural quality.
Architecture thrives on initiative. We are always interested in meeting people who bring their own perspective to the built environment. Whether you are at an early stage of your journey or already experienced, we welcome unsolicited applications that reflect your ideas, your process, and your ambitions.
Share your work and get in touch, regardless of current openings here.
Our proposal for the School Campus Hohewart² has received an honorable mention. The design builds on the site’s existing landscape character, preserving most of the valuable tree population while carefully integrating new buildings into the natural topography. Rather than a collection of isolated structures, the campus is envisioned as an ensemble of clearly defined volumes that together create a coherent, identity-shaping whole. At the heart of the campus is a vibrant, central space that fosters connection, community and exchange between the two schools. Differentiated outdoor areas, varied spatial sequences, and flexible learning clusters support contemporary educational concepts while maintaining the site’s intimate scale and grain.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this project.
Throwback to the final guest critique at HEIA Fribourg, where our partner Angie Müller-Puch joined the studio module 'Atmosphères' exploring the revitalisation of a former industrial site called “La Pisciculture”. Students presented strong architectural concepts that reframe the existing structures through reuse, working with what is already there while using atmosphere as a design tool that connects space, emotion, program, and human interaction. With its large industrial halls set within the Sarine river landscape, the site offered a powerful setting to rethink transformation through a circular lens and reminded us that sustainable architecture often starts by preserving what is best, improving what exists, and introducing the new carefully with minimal change and maximum impact.
In the 2025/2026 winter term, Behnisch Architekturbüro shared insights into architectural design at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar within the Chair of Construction Management and Building Processes. Through lectures and hands-on sessions, partner Angie Müller-Puch and Nora Gersie introduced holistic design and representation approaches using our project Haus am Krampnitzer Tor as a case study.
Next week on March 19, Michelle Lee of Behnisch and Roman Schieber of knippershelbig will be at Zak World of Façades in Washington DC to present the University of Pennsylvania’s Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology. The facade and form were designed to maximize natural ventilation, enable energy-efficient radiant heating and cooling, daylight, connection to community and the city to enhance the work and life of the scientists.
Last week, our team — Michelle Lee and Ryan Maruyama — presented the research project “Geometry of Water: Shaping Terra Cotta for Urban Heat Islands” at the Advances in Architectural Geometry 2025 symposium at MIT. They were joined in the presentation by Pamela Cabrera Pardo (Transsolar Klima Engineering), highlighting the collaborative nature of this ongoing research effort. The project brings together Behnisch Architekten, Transsolar KlimaEngineering, knippershelbig, TriPyramid Structures and Boston Valley Terra Cotta to investigate how terra cotta façade geometries can support cooling in dense urban environments experiencing increasing heat stress.
A New Approach to Urban Microclimates Rather than relying on shading alone, the research centers on evaporative cooling. By shaping terra cotta like a sponge—through pleating, dimpling, folding, and other geometric strategies—the tiles can absorb and temporarily store rainwater. As this water evaporates, the façade cools itself and the surrounding microclimate. The geometry is tuned not only for maximum evaporation but also for freeze–thaw durability, making the system suitable for four-season climates like New England. The design merges the logic of a ventilated rainscreen façade with ceramic innovation, environmental performance, and fabrication practicality.
From Material Research to Urban Impact Using digital simulation, physical prototyping, and full-scale testing, the project shows that shaped terra cotta can significantly reduce surface temperatures on hot days and improve thermal comfort in streets, courtyards, and other public spaces.
As cities around the world continue to densify and warm, the project proposes a façade system that is market-ready, materially efficient, and aligned with future climate demands. We look forward to the continuing conversations from AAG2025 and to advancing this research together with our partners. A complete technical overview, including methodology, performance testing and environmental modeling, is available in the attached PDF proceedings.
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