Q-FORUM

Type: Cultural Center, Sustainability

Location: Potsdam, Germany

Client: Private/Undisclosed

Collaborator: Christine Lara Hoff

Schematic Design 2018

Re-appropriation of space through architectural intervention is a sustainable use of building material, creating interesting juxtapositions between contemporary program and historical spaces. This reuse of buildings with a new program is a sustainable alternative to the waste created by new construction. Q-forum is the reuse of a two-story cattle shed and courtyard to create a mixed-use cultural center.

The client is a theater company, invested in the creation of a diverse program of seminars and visiting teachers to further enrich a vibrant performing arts community in Potsdam, Germany. The challenge was to create a mixed-use master plan, which allows flexible seasonal programs. The diverse program includes a summer theater, classrooms, exhibition spaces, café, restaurant/catering, a beer garden, back-of-house, and lodging. The summer theater concept involves integration of the façade with the curtain, so the building becomes performative.