Sparrenburg Visitors’ Centre in Bielefeld
- Burkhard Franke
Although only the tower and a few remains of Sparrenburg Castle exist today, they are emblematic of Bielefeld. The new, single-storey visitors’ centre in coloured tamped concrete acts as an enclosing element to the castle courtyard. Wedge-shaped on plan, this cubic addition is not attached to the surviving structures but nevertheless forms a link between old and new. Above all, the coloration of the existing elements is reinterpreted in the horizontal striations of the outer concrete walls. Through the addition of appropriate grains and pigments, they make reference to the grey sandstone walls of the castle and to the yellow sandstone of the window surrounds and quoins of the existing buildings.
