Graft Architects have won the competition transforming and redeveloping one of Germany’s oldest youth Hostel in Munich. The Munich city hostel was built in 1929 and currently holds 335 beds and 82 rooms.
The new entrance has been relocated to Winthirplatz square which allows it to double up as a spill over space if required. The two building blocks are connected by a large curved glass facade which houses a two storey lobby. This lobby acts as an lively transition space between the inner courtyard and the external square.
Kitchen. Image Courtesy of GRAFT Architects
There is high use of modern communication technology like a modern “black board” of Graphics, QR-codes, mini screens and projections of maps, as well as Facebook and Twitter pages. The ceiling has the local news, time and weather data projected. It stands in integration with the dining room and seminar spaces keeping the activity level high. These are further overlooked by flexible arrangement of hostel rooms, increasing curiosity quotient .
The original entrance facade will be renovated according to official preservation norms and its distinctive arched entrances will be made usable on the inside with a delicate system of glass. A unity of architectural idea is shown through extensive use of wooden iconography in interiors and the curved glass facade of the new entrance as an allusion to the district Wendl-Dietrich-Straße’s local character.
Courtesy of GRAFT Architects-Site Plan
The design integrates the universal ideas of “simple travelling, youthful curiosity and thirst for encounter” with the challenges of modern habits of travel. Community living and bridging the gap between the new and old, the “origin” and “departure” by breaking the old image to create a newer sleeker one is what this project aims at.
Courtesy of GRAFT Architects-sction
