Beethovenarchiv and Kammermusiksaal [Beethoven archive and chamber music hall]

Located right next to the “Beethoven-Haus”, this new building to expand the archive of the Beethoven collection and accommodate a chamber music hall was opened in 1989.
The four-storey front part with admin offices and library rooms closed a building gap in Bonngasse .
The rendered perforated façade is elegantly accentuated through natural stone at the edge of the window openings. Through the integrated eaves edge and the height of the storeys it fits well with the listed buildings in Bonngasse in its dimensionality, too.
In the back part of the building we find the chamber music hall. In the backyard, right next to the house in which Beethoven was born, in conjunction with the old archive buildings it frames the small Beethoven garden in the back.
The hall for about 200 people is a classic semi-circle. The seamless transition between lobby and hall and the aisles with pillars arranged in a quarter-circle which guide the audience and make for a clear view is really impressive. The hall is thus not perceived as a closed box but as an open space.

Award: Vorbildliche Bauten in Nordrhein-Westfalen 1995 (Land NRW/Architektenkammer NRW) [Exemplary buildings in North Rhine – Westphalia 1995; Land NRW/chamber of architects NRW]

Awards:
Exemplary buildings in North Rhine – Westphalia 1995; Land NRW/chamber of architects NRW

Author: Editorial baukunst-nrw

Categories:
Architecture » Public Buildings » Cultural (cinemas, theatres, museums)