From bunker to apartment building

The former air-raid shelter at Brühlstraße 33-35 in Frankfurt’s Heddernheim district is being converted into an apartment building with 14 subsidised rental apartments. The bunker was built in 1942 and was designed to offer 730 people shelter. This three-storey high bunker was last repaired in 1987 against the backdrop of ongoing Cold War tensions. ABG FRANKFURT HOLDING commissioned schneider+schumacher to carry out the conversion work. On site, Frankfurt’s head of planning, Mike Josef, together with ABG managing director Frank Junker, plus Michael Schumacher, talked about the bunker conversion during a site visit.

“In this former bunker building, stringent conversion measures will be creating urgently needed affordable housing in Förderweg 1. The project will be energy-efficient and it enjoys an optimal connection to public transport,” said Mike Josef. Frank Junker emphasised that this project requires special expertise from everyone involved: “In order to carve out window openings in the massive bunker walls alone, sections weighing four to five tonnes had to be removed. That’s the equivalent of the weight of two SUVs”, he said.

“When it comes to creating more living space in large cities, conversion, and providing additional storeys and extensions, are important aspects of re-densification”, said Michael Schumacher. From a cultural standpoint, he claimed it appropriate that people are able to read the history of a building. “The fact that the future apartment building is a former bunker will remain visible in various details, such as the cross-section of the bunker ceiling in the stairwell. The window reveals in the apartments will remain partially un-rendered and so offer a glimpse of the original building fabric.”

Hessenschau TV report: Former bunker becomes residential building

TV report by SAT.1 Regionalmagazin 17:30 live: Living in the former high bunker