The new staff building for a paper manufacturer in Diemelstadt, North Hesse, asks how we can design buildings that are properly geared towards the present with equal flexibility for the future. The three-story building provides space for six new changing-rooms and a communal space with its own terrace. It is designed as a modular and therefore expandable steel structure that can be flexibly fitted with prefabricated elements.

The steel structure is made of standardized industrial profiles, can be easily dismantled and is therefore recyclable. The new building blends topographically and functionally into the daily routine of the employees: it is located between the future factory entrance and the existing factory building and, thanks to its external access, mediates between the stark difference in elevation that marks the premises. This location on the edge of the sloping terrain means that both the changing rooms on the factory’s lower level as well as the communal space with the terrace on the upper level can be accessed directly. A spacious pergola, which connects the floors with an open, weather-protected staircase, provides not only an additional outdoor community space but also the necessary shading. This function, together with the use of the factory’s waste heat, forms the basis for a low-tech energy concept. The building is thus ideally integrated into its surroundings and the daily routine of the employees while allowing for future changes through its flexible structure.