Schöner Hof


Conversion and renovation of a historically protected barn into 4-8 residential units


Location: 16775 Schönermark


Year: 2021 - currently under construction


Team IFUB*: Mikus Druviņš, Johannes Krohne, Bernhard Kurz, Clemens Gritl, Sarah Deuling


In collaboration with:
Lossen Ingenieure (structural engineering), Ingenieurbüro Andreas Wilke (fire protection and sound insulation), Wiltrud Weber (energy consulting), Ergosun (TGA planning)


Client: Hofgemeinschaft Schönermark GbR


Craftspeople: tbd

In 2021, a building group acquired a hundred-year-old

four-sided farm

in Schönermark, around an hour north of Berlin, which had previously been used for horse holidays. The aim was and is to swap the noisy city for a quiet rural environment. There are five buildings on the property that date back to before 1924, including a farmhouse and four brick stables and barns. The buildings of the farm, which used to be run as an agricultural co-operative, underwent a number of modifications during the GDR era, but are largely preserved in their original condition. The first question that arose - which of the farm's five buildings should be remodelled? The historic house, the stables or the barns? The choice was not easy, which is why IFUB* provided support in the initial phase with various utilisation concepts in order to find the best possible solution.

A

historical picture

of the old farm still hangs in one of the buildings and shows the proud owners with their horses.

Architecturally and financially, the project was a challenge. How do you get

a building group with four families

ideally accommodated in an old barn structure that is not designed for flats? How can you keep an eye on the future at the same time? And how can it all be financed? The process of arriving at the final solution was intensive, but worthwhile. The barn is now divided into four two-storey units, which can either be occupied by one family each or split into two small residential units - depending on what the family situation requires.

The financial solution lay not only in the building group's own efforts, but also in the support of the monument preservation authorities. The specific rules for listed buildings made the planned extension concept affordable in the first place, as the change of use would otherwise have meant that the insulation standard of a new building would have applied and BEG funding would have been almost impossible. It was therefore possible to apply for funding as an

Efficiency House Monument

for the eight residential units.

Before submitting the building application, but also for financing purposes, it had to be clarified whether the buildings were actually valuable historical - i.e. historically protected - structures. For this reason, the barn and stable buildings were examined at the Brandenburg State Office for the Preservation of Monuments at the request of the building group and designated as

monuments.

In future, the building will be accessed via

four separate entrances,

which have been newly integrated into the brick façade. Behind each of these is a flat on the ground floor and one on the top floor - or a kind of small terraced house.

Overview plan

Floor Plan Ground Floor

Floor Plan LOFT

Elevation South

Elevation North

Elevation East

Elevation West

Cross Section BB

Cross Section AA