For several years now, the city of Gummersbach, the Oberbergische Kreis and the Technical University of Cologne try to make the listed Hohenzollernbad usable as well as to expand it into a place for knowledge and culture.
In a three-month process, actori developed an operating concept for the joint use of the cultural property, bringing together different actors from the city and the district.
The "Bergisches Forum für Wissen und Kultur" (BFWK) will house the district and municipal libraries, a new theatre, the Gummersbach Adult Education Centre, and the district archive, in one building. There after the new BFWK will be both, a jointly used building and a "third place", that will create synergies between the users. This new Centre causes attraction for the city and the district.
Based on an operating model for the BFWK that meets the special requirements and funding models of the various users, the subsidy requirements for the forum and a new theatre operation were then calculated in a business case.
The aim is now to launch an architectural competition next spring. After approval by the municipal committees last November, the district council will discuss the project further in March.
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The project was implemented by Amélie Strobel, Project Management, Franziskus Linsmann, and Jonas Salzer, Consultant.