Not just a clean bed and shower!

Bayreuth Youth Hostel

Holi­stic sustaina­bi­lity

It’s the new gene­ra­tion of youth hostels – inno­va­tive, inte­gra­tive and inter­na­tional – and has recently opened: Bayreuth Youth Hostel, Germany. The fluid struc­ture is inte­grated into the land­scape, with contem­po­rary mate­rials and holi­stic sustaina­bi­lity – a place for active people of all abili­ties.

LAVA’s concept for the sports hostel is:

  1. Inno­va­tive – inven­tive new spatial confi­gu­ra­tion of the whole faci­lity, inclu­ding indi­vi­dual room modules, mate­rial use and design
  2. Inte­grated – inclu­sive ‘barrier-free’ buil­ding, with sporting areas merging directly with the buil­ding, and acces­sible spaces, faci­li­ties and grounds
  3. Inter­na­tional – the design from creates a feeling of place and combines it with contem­po­rary elements Bayreuth’s global partner cities

Gene­ra­tion Y

LAVA chose a ‘Y’ shape for the 180-bed hostel because it cleverly gene­rates a connec­tive central space and inter­weaves the inte­rior and exte­rior spaces, offe­ring expan­sive views and multiple acces­sible openings to the sports fields and gardens.

Gen Y travel­lers want funky design, a special iden­tity, access to commu­nity and unique expe­ri­ences. Not just a clean bed and shower!

So LAVA‘S reinter­pre­ta­tion of a youth hostel features inno­va­tive spatial confi­gu­ra­tions that encou­rage inter­ac­tion and acces­si­bi­lity; sustaina­bi­lity at func­tional, cons­truc­tional and social levels; and inte­grated sporting faci­li­ties.

The rooms, grounds and faci­li­ties  of Bayreuth Youth Hostel are all fully acces­sible and espe­ci­ally equipped for active people of all abili­ties. A whole wheel­chair basket­ball team can stay here. Four­teen rooms on the ground floor are wheel­chair acces­sible by lift or ramps, and there are walk-in showers, wheel­chair-acces­sible sinks, more space and tech­nical aids. Doors, terraces, sports and parking areas are acces­sible and there are custo­mised way-finding systems with strong graphics. Inclu­sion is also seen in the staf­fing with about one third of Bayreuth Youth Hostel employees having disa­bi­li­ties.

Archi­tect

LAVA Berlin
Saar­brü­cker Strasse 24 – Haus D
10405 Berlin
Germany

Client

Deut­sches Jugend­her­bergs­werk
Landes­ver­band Bayern e.V.
Mauer­kir­cherstr. 5
81679 München
Germany

Team

Tobias Wallisser, Alex­ander Rieck, Chris Bosse Julian Fahren­kamp (Projekt­lei­tung), Ange­lika Hermann, Jan Kozerski, Mikolay Scibisz, Nicola Schunter, Paula Gonzalez, Güley Alagöz, Elise Elsa­cker, Myung Lee, Yuan Ma, Sebas­tian Schott, Stephan Albrecht, Stefanie Pesel
mit Wenzel+Wenzel, Frank­furt Matias Wenzel, Sven Becker, Thilo von Wint­zin­ge­rode, Erik Muth

Aerial view

Thank you, Google!

Address

Univer­si­täts­straße 28
95447 Bayreuth
Germany

Author

LAVA

Photo­graph

Häfeler/Fotostudio Huber
DJH/Robert Pupeter

Opening

2017

Cons­truc­tion costs

€10,500,000
Ground plans

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Typo­logy

The guest room typo­logy is new. LAVA desi­gned an intel­li­gent wall system with modular contem­po­rary custom built-in furni­ture – toilets, showers as well as bed niches. These three-dimen­sional wall modules faci­li­tate diffe­rent room confi­gu­ra­tions through parti­ally rotatable beds crea­ting two, four and six-bed rooms. They maxi­mise room usage for a broad range of guests – from indi­vi­duals to fami­lies to wheel­chair teams.

The multi­pur­pose central atrium is a surpri­sing element with its play of mate­rials and colours. It fulfills the youth hostel motto ‘Expe­ri­ence the Commu­nity’ serving as a hub for (digital) enter­tain­ment, inter­ac­tion and commu­ni­ca­tion. The amphi­theatre in the middle is lit by a skylight above and connects to the diffe­rent levels in a playful way, whilst giving hori­zontal and diagonal sight­lines guiding visi­tors through the buil­ding.

Recep­tion, seminar rooms, bistro, kitchen, sports and game faci­li­ties are spread out over two floors and connected to each other via this central atrium. Each wing of the Y has access to the exte­rior at its end, and many ‘loops’ combi­ning inside and outside come toge­ther at the central point of the Y.

Parts of Bayreuth Youth Hostel double as grand­stands for cultural events and encou­rage commu­nity inter­ac­tion. Terraces allow direct access to the green fields and sports areas of the ground floor zone, all acces­sible.

Wood looks like wood

Another feature is no fake surfaces, just authentic mate­rials – wood looks like wood. Much of the struc­ture, inclu­ding wooden trusses, is exposed, giving a ‘raw’ space. The wood, concrete floors and ceilings create an indus­trial robust­ness with brightly coloured infills and strong graphics refe­ren­cing sports acti­vi­ties or natural elements like tree canopies. Using local mate­rials and tech­ni­ques there is a focus on soli­dity and func­tion­a­lity rather than relying on the latest tech­no­logy.

Holi­stic sustaina­bi­lity includes envi­ron­mental – local mate­rials, highly insu­lated facades, rene­wable energy, pollu­tion reduc­tion etc. But it also includes social and struc­tural sustaina­bi­lity. Universal design allows ever­yone to work and to stay and inte­gra­tion sees more poten­tial users, resul­ting in optimum use of the faci­lity. There are diffe­rent utili­sa­tion cycles for various parts (cons­truc­tion, façade, tech­nical deve­lo­p­ment) – for example only along the corri­dors and the facades are there load-bearing compon­ents – room wings are freely divi­dable inside. So future reuse/change of use is possible – one day Bayreuth Youth Hostel could become a kinder­garten, a school or a reti­re­ment home.

Photo­graphs

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