Parish hall St. Paul

Constructional and energetic renovation

The parish hall is part of the church in Berlin-Wedding, which is named after the apostle Paulus and was built between 1832 and 1835 as the third of the suburban churches designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

All four Schinkel's suburban churches are subject to the same concept of simple and functional design and have the same rectangular floor plan. The reason for their construction in the outskirts of Berlin was the growing population in the course of the industrialisation of the 1830s. The churches were built at low cost in the newly developed settlement areas in the north of Berlin and offered space for worship, especially for the proletarian population.

In 1889/90, the temple-like plastered building of St. Paul's Church was given a freestanding bell tower, whose shape is oriented towards Italian campanile.

The church was only integrated into the surrounding residential ensemble, which had grown and condensed since the Wilhelminian period, when the parish hall was built in 1910.

The church was particularly affected by massive damage during the Second World War. In 1952, the exterior appearance of the church was largely true to the original, but the interior was rebuilt in keeping with contemporary taste.

Over the years only repairs and minor modernisation measures were carried out on the less destroyed community centre.

The project

With the aim of significantly reducing the building's thermal energy requirements, the community centre of St. Paul's Church has been energetically modernised in a multi-stage package of measures since 2012 and partially renovated in line with the preservation order.

The project will take place in three phases:

Package 1 (2012-2013)

• Insulation of the fire wall and basement ceiling
• Installation of a new heating system
• Reconditioning of the construction time windows
• Preparation of a fire protection certificate and implementation of the fire protection requirements

Package 2 (2014-2016)

• Installation of a tea kitchen and WC (one of which is wheelchair accessible) on the ground floor
• Redesign of the staircase in accordance with monument and fire protection regulations
• Redesign of the outdoor facilities in accordance with the preservation order

Package 3 (2014-2016)

• Redesign of the community hall in the EC