The first university competition "New Learning Spaces" focused on the transformation of existing university buildings into flexible learning and working environments. The ZPL building R12 on the Essen campus of the University of Duisburg-Essen served as the specific design task. The serial and modular building structure of the university complex offers particular potential for implementing new usage concepts. Students from eight universities developed a total of 23 architectural and interior design concepts for this existing building, and the awards have now been announced.
The competition was aimed at architecture and interior design students with the goal of identifying the existing qualities of the ZPL building, embracing them, and combining them with modern forms of learning, working, and exchange. The jury evaluated the submissions not only on creativity and innovation but also on functionality, user orientation, architectural and interior design quality, sustainability, the implementation of "New Learning" principles, and integration into the campus context. The competition was organised by bkp in cooperation with Bau- und Liegenschaftsbetrieb NRW, the Lindner Group, and the University of Duisburg-Essen.
Award-winning Concepts for Future Learning Environments
First prize was awarded to Jan Poggel from Hochschule Düsseldorf, Peter Behrens School of Arts (PBSA), for his design "Bildungswerkstatt – Lern- und Arbeitswelten für den ZPL-Bestand" (Education Workshop – Learning and Working Environments for the ZPL Building). His concept takes up the modular structure of the building and further develops it into a flexibly adaptable learning environment using mobile walls, modular furniture, and a central "toolbox". Users can create, modify, and reappropriate spaces as required by the situation. The jury highlighted the interplay of conceptual clarity, interior design quality, realistic feasibility, and transferability to comparable ZPL buildings.
Second prize went to Jule Merkelbach from Hochschule Coburg, Faculty of Design, for "Learning in Pieces". Her design is based on four learning states – interaction, exploration, stabilisation, and reflection – and creates a spatial system of combinable modules that enables various forms of learning, from individual workstations to workshop and meeting rooms, makerspaces, and quiet zones. Franziska Pfeuffer, also from Hochschule Coburg, received third prize with "Begegnung ist die beste Lehre!" (Encounter is the Best Lesson!). Her concept focuses on encounters and informal learning by transforming circulation and intermediate spaces into active places for exchange, movement, socialising, and collaborative work. A commendation went to Antonia Stuhm and Clara Stöcker from Bauhaus-Universität Weimar for "Re: Form R12 – Eine lernfähige Struktur" (Re: Form R12 – A Learning-Capable Structure). This design focuses on further developing the existing structure, reusing existing building components, and enhancing the spatial connectivity between floors, thus linking "New Learning" with circularity and resource-conscious construction.
Impetus for Property Development
Heiner Kolde, Managing Director of bkp, emphasised that the university competition connects theory and practice and opens up new perspectives on current issues. He referred to the diversity and inventiveness of the contributions on the topic of "New Learning Spaces" and the students' commitment to engaging with future learning and working environments. Matthias Quinkert, Brand Manager of the Lindner Group, highlighted that learning should be a continuous part of corporate culture, encompassing curiosity, exchange, and questioning the status quo, and that the competition demonstrated the relevance of these questions for future learning and working environments. Till Neschen, Duisburg Branch Manager of Bau- und Liegenschaftsbetrieb NRW, noted that the competition provided valuable impetus for the future development of the ZPL buildings by showing how existing qualities can be further developed with flexible learning and working environments.
