The recently completed Jacoby studios project in Paderborn, western Germany, has received three awards or nominations. It is one of three winners of the Respekt und Perspektive, Bauen im Bestand 2020 award for refurbishment and redevelopment projects, given by db Deutsche Bauzeitung, and was selected by the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen to win a Vorbildliche Bauten NRW 2020 award. Together with the James-Simon-Galerie in Berlin, Jacoby studios is also nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture Mies van der Rohe Award, to be chosen in 2021.
“Converting a hospital into a company headquarters, the hidden remains of an old monastery were first revealed in an almost sculptural demolition. The fact that they now form the centre of the new, multi-wing office complex shows the respect for the existing building. The chapel was courageously reinterpreted; inverted like a sock turned inside out. Without a roof, it now serves as an open reception courtyard for the headquarters.”
— Respekt und Perspektive, Bauen im Bestand 2020 statement
Image © Simon Menges