Housing

Self-managed dormitory, education and culture centre: the new Collegium Academicum is located on the site of the former US hospital in Heidelberg-Rohrbach. It comprises two existing buildings and one new building which is made of wood with an innovative architectural design. First tenants will move in in October 2022.

New House

The new building, which was designed by architect Hans Drechsler (Dipl. Arch. ETH), fulfils high ecological and aesthetic standards. Drexler Guinand Jauslin architects specialise in energy efficient construction and have won many international awards and competitions in this field. Resource awareness is an important design consideration both for the construction and future use of the house. That is why we use wood, a renewable resource, almost everywhere as the construction material.

The innovative design offers space for both individuality and community: 46 three-person and four-person apartments are spread over four floors in the wooden house. A terrace is located on the roof of the auditorium which is connected to the upper floors and serves as a meeting place. All apartments and pathways are designed with accessiblity in mind, especially the units on the ground floor. Also the community spaces are located on the ground floor including a workshop room, the hall and a multi-purpose room with a kitchen.

The model of such an individual room is currently on display in several places in Heidelberg.

In recognition of its innovative flexible way of living and sustainable construction concept focusing on common space, the project is supported by the Federal Ministry for Construction and obtained a grant over € 2.2 million under the “Variowohnen” future investment program.

Old House

The old administrative building which lies north adjacent to the new building will be given a new life: young people will put up self-made living boxes, and the surrounding building shell will be used for common spaces to get and study together, to do creative work. On the ground floor, several seminar rooms are planned for both internal and external projects. The orientation year in the old building is an important part of our holistic education concept.

The International Building Exhibition, an Excellence Initiative of the German government for urban planning, is active in Heidelberg until 2022 to work on future-oriented solutions for urban planning and social challenges. In 2015, the Collegium Academicum’s initiative was selected by the IBA Heidelberg as an IBA-PROJECT under the motto “Wissen schafft Stadt” (knowledge-based urbanism).

Assisted by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU), the project shall also serve as a real-life model for research on living conditions that save space and offer a high quality of life. The principle of sufficiency (to focus on the essential) is reflected in the experimental living, common space design and rooms for creative work.