Open Prison JVA Düppel
- locationBerlin Steglitz-Zehlendorf
- year2010
- clientLand Berlin Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung
- BGF10.500 m2
- BRI32.000 m3
Open prison for 250 inmates
The open prison has been located in the middle of a suburban residential area, next to a riding stables since the 1960s. The living quarters, the florist, and the workshop form a joint ensemble. Each building expresses a precise typology. The U-shaped building which houses the living quarters is a three-storey building complex with an administration area in the middle and two group living quarters in the wings on the left and right hand sides.
The windows placed at regular intervals convey organization and clarity, and define the space as existing somewhere between the realms of freedom and incarceration. The building’s strong cubature is softened by the outer flush front panels and the two-dimensional masonry in lively colors, from sand to bold brown tones. The non-monotone repetition of the same narrow, high window elements with sheet steel intrados flood the rooms with light. The floor-to-ceiling, single-casement windows brighten and relieve the usual prison sparseness.
The sheet steel window intrados precisely perforate the two-shell walling. The reformulation of the conventional bars into windows that sit deep in their intrados with their multiple use room-height rotating shutters out of steel, which function as guardrails, provide shade, or just function as replacement bars demonstrates an adept and sensitive approach. In the interior, the severity of the exposed concrete construction is softened by the pinewood floor-to-ceiling cell doors.
The extension of the existing greenhouse by a florist’s shop was carried out using exposed lightweight concrete. The storey-height, 25 m long support over the shop window creates the entrance and the shop window facing the nearby street.
A place of work, an interface between prison and public life, where reintegration takes place every day. The long, one-storey workshop is a steel construction with concrete ballast supports and galvanized grating cladding.
