WÄLDERHAUS – a holistic concept

"The Forest comes to the City" - proclaims the WÄLDERHAUS; it is one of the International Building Exhibition IBA Hamburg's "Excellence Projects" and has been built by the German Association for the Protection of Forests and Woodlands (SDW). To mark the completion of this extraordinary building project, IBA Hamburg and the German Association for the Protection of Forests and Woodlands (SDW) held a press conference on 1st November 2012 at which the architect, Andreas Heller from Studio Andreas Heller Architects & Designers, was also present.
The WÄLDERHAUS (forest house) is Hamburg's new venue; it offers visitors a unique learning and multi-sensory experience to discover all manner of interesting facts about forests and sustainability. With its wide-ranging programme and spectacular architecture, the building adds a unique new venue to the choice of places for a day out in Hamburg. The permanent exhibition, the Forest Science Centre, brings the forest quite literally into the city. Here, the visitor experience is about the ecology of forests, how they affect our water resources and climate and about their cultural role. Inside the WÄLDERHAUS there is also the environment-friendly Raphael Hotel Wälderhaus and the Restaurant Wilhelms, which serves delicious regional food and seasonal delicacies.

Hamburg, 1st November 2012 – "After a long period of planning followed by a relatively short construction time, the WÄLDERHAUS is ready to open. It stands on a site that embodies the mutual dependence of the three pillars of sustainability better than any other in Hamburg. Thank you, Wilhelmsburg, for providing this excellent setting for our WÄLDERHAUS!" said Rüdiger Kruse, general manager of the German Association for the Protection of Forests and Woodlands at the press conference on Thursday morning. The WÄLDERHAUS building incorporates exhibition space and classrooms, a hotel and a restaurant. It is now the place in Hamburg where Hamburg residents, guests from North Germany and tourists from all over the country can come to experience, savour and learn all about forests and sustainability. "We are proud and delighted that this newly completed WÄLDERHAUS, this IBA Excellence Project, makes central Wilhelmsburg more attractive and that this concept, the only one of its kind in the world, now enriches the neighbourhood with a very special masterpiece. This new destination for a day out complements the range of non-school education opportunities in the neighbourhood, makes it more colourful and is an extraordinary example of the thinking approach to nature, sustainability, the environment and resources," IBA managing director Uli Hellweg said.

Offering a unique and varied programme, the WÄLDERHAUS is a new and exceptional place for a day out in Hamburg. The permanent exhibition, the Forest Science Centre, quite literally brings the forest into the city: visitors can explore the ecology of forests, their importance for our water resources and climate as well as their cultural role at this exhibition with real trees, stuffed animals and a wood library. The exhibition covers two stories and features 80 "Discovery Stations" on the topic of wood and forests; there are seven microscopes at the entrance to the exhibition and a Cabinet of Forest Wonders for explorers of all ages. The complex concept to teach sustainability also includes plans for a forest laboratory and a cinema for visitors. One star exhibit is really ancient - a 20 million-year-old petrified tree. In exciting and comprehensible style, the exhibition presents the tense relationship between forest and big city, the way city-dwellers feel about forests and the bio-diversity of the forest habitat. Moreover, the top three floors of the WÄLDERHAUS are occupied by a Raphael hotel. 82 rooms offer travellers a restful home for the night. They too are surrounded by the forest: the interior decoration of every room has been lovingly and individually designed to feature a native tree species, which also gives the room its name. On the ground floor, the Restaurant Wilhelms serves delicious locally sourced organic foods and seasonal dishes. The restaurant seats 80 and the terrace offers the same number of seats where guests can enjoy fresh produce outside. Rooms at the Wilhelms can also be hired for private events. As a teaching centre for environmental awareness where the "Forest Forum" is held, the house serves as a platform for members of the construction, energy and forestry industries to meet for a professional exchange. Exhibition and forum are on the ground and first floors. "In the WÄLDERHAUS we want people to learn, experience, and understand what forests and sustainability are about. We city dwellers need to be shown how important the forests are," says Jan Muntendorf, project manager of WÄLDERHAUS.

Every use is dedicated to forests and the subject of sustainability. The architecture mirrors this concept. The WÄLDERHAUS consists mostly of wood and part of its operation is carbon-neutral. The wooden façade is designed to be "lived in". It will offer a new habitat to a variety of small creatures. The larch wood façade contains niches for nests of plants for birds and insects to inhabit. Designed by Hamburg architect Andreas Heller, the WÄLDERHAUS itself is, by virtue of its architecture and building services, an exhibit in the sense that it reveals a holistic concept of forests and sustainability. "The design and concept of the WÄLDERHAUS also stand for a new type of architecture. In Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg, renewable building materials, environmental and holistic uses coupled with the very demanding task of presenting the forest theme meaningfully are exclamation marks in a neighbourhood that is reinventing itself," says Andreas Heller, Studio Andreas Heller Architects & Designers.
Whereas for fire safety reasons the first two stories were constructed using reinforced concrete clad with wood, the upper three stories are completely of solid timbers - as are the load-bearing structures. Because the building tapers towards the top and the wooden façade is slightly uneven and dotted with green, the overall effect is reminiscent of a mighty tree. Thanks to good insulation and efficient building services, the WÄLDERHAUS will consume about a third less energy than the amount laid down in the Energy Saving Regulation. A large part of the building's energy needs will be supplied by its own photovoltaic and geothermal installations.

Photo material for the IBA project WÄLDERHAUS is available here:
Link: http://iba-hamburg.eyebase.com
PIN code: xzL3MuoP (please copy into the right-hand box)

If you have further queries, please contact: IBA Hamburg GmbH, Kristina Hödl, Head of the Press Office, kristina.hoedl@iba-hamburg.de, Tel.: 040 / 226 227 335, or Anna Vietinghoff, Press Office anna.vietinghoff@iba-hamburg.de, Tel: 040 / 226 227 - 331 or presse@iba-hamburg.de

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For further information please see: www.waelderhaus.de and https://www.facebook.com/waelderhaus
Email: info@waelderhaus.de; Telephone: 040 / 30 23 675 - 0

Note: The WÄLDERHAUS is in Wilhelmsburg-Mitte, where building work is progressing daily. Therefore, we ask all visitors to exercise caution when driving to the building site.