Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany

Staatliche Kunsthalle

In 2017, the state of Baden-Württemberg launched a competition to renovate and expand the art gallery. The aim is to concentrate the institution, which is divided into several buildings, into two roughly equivalent buildings that are connected by an underground passage.
The existing four-wing complex for art from the late Middle Ages to the 19th century (realization part of the competition) and the extension for modern and contemporary art (idea part) on the neighboring property to the east.
The Kunsthalle (gallery) is thus at the beginning of a two-stage transformation process. The first step is the renovation of the four-wing system of the existing building.
Important tasks are the air conditioning of all galleries, the creation of accessibility and the improvement of spatial orientation for the visitors, the renewal of the technical infrastructure as well as the conservation and restoration of the listed halls on the ground floor.
The building project is intended to make it clear that sustainable and energy-efficient solutions are also possible if the monument preservation and museological framework conditions are observed.
Transsolar is responsible for an optimized daylight supply and for the best climatic conditions in the museum galleries. Direct sunlight is blocked and diffuse light radiation is guided into the galleries without glare, whereby the illuminance levels are adapted to the requirements of the works of art.
The temperature behavior and the development of the air humidity must also be examined in selected galleries in order to meet the strict requirements for the protection of the old works of art.
Transsolar uses dynamic thermal simulations and air flow simulations for this.