Flexible University Architecture: Behles & Jochimsen’s Adaptable Design for KreativInstitut OWL
In the small German city of Detmold, a pioneering architectural work has emerged: the KreativInstitut OWL, designed by Berlin-based studio Behles & Jochimsen. Commissioned by three institutions—the OWL University of Applied Sciences, Detmold University of Music, and Paderborn University—the facility represents a new type of academic space. It merges science, business, and music under one flexible, environmentally conscious roof.
What makes this project stand out is its unique response to the question: “What could a creative institute be?” Instead of rigid spatial divisions, the design team envisioned a dynamic structure built for change. The building accommodates evolving educational needs with modular interiors, sustainable materials, and a clever layout that allows for reconfiguration.
Located at the entrance to Detmold, the building functions as a collaborative hub for students, researchers, and professionals. It also sets an architectural precedent: embracing timber as a major material in an academic context while balancing structural logic with creative openness. This duality between order and adaptability is central to the building’s identity and makes it a strong case study in the evolving language of university design.
Balancing Flexibility and Form: The Layout and Spatial Strategy
The architectural concept of the KreativInstitut OWL is rooted in flexibility. At each end of the building are two curved concrete cores that house staircases, meeting rooms, and utilities. Between these anchors lies a fully timber-framed, open-plan interior that can be adapted for various uses.
- Ground floor: Contains an open informal meeting area and a rare feature for a university building—an anechoic chamber used for sound testing.
- Upper floors: Comprise office spaces, laboratories, and music studios, divided by movable partitions for adaptability.
This spatial logic creates a linear organization with a central corridor, flanked by workspaces. It allows different departments to coexist while maintaining the potential for change and reprogramming—an increasingly vital quality in today’s hybrid academic environments.
Table: Spatial Components by Floor
| Floor | Main Components | Flexibility Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Ground Floor | Open zone + Anechoic chamber | Open layout for communal use |
| Upper Floors | Offices, Labs, Studios | Movable walls and modular setup |
Sustainable Materials and Structural Efficiency
This is the studio’s first timber building, a decision driven by the project’s sustainability goals. Timber is used for framing the primary structure, while reinforced concrete cores provide support and seismic stability.
The floors are made of a timber-concrete composite that houses insulation, lighting, and a 1.25-meter grid of service ducts. This technical solution ensures that electricity, data, and mechanical systems can be accessed anywhere, maintaining the building’s flexible logic.
Externally, the façade features pre-greyed timber cladding arranged in alternating vertical strips. Thin metal bands provide contrast and rhythm, reinforcing a subtle yet modern aesthetic.
Table: Material Usage Overview
| Material | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Timber (pre-greyed) | Façade cladding and structural framing | Sustainable, warm appearance |
| Concrete | Cores, circulation, load-bearing | Stability and symbolic curvature |
| Metal | Façade detail elements | Adds contrast and modern definition |
Architectural Analysis
The design logic is centered on a strong contrast: the firmness of concrete versus the warmth and adaptability of timber. This architectural duality reflects the building’s programmatic blend of science, business, and music—disciplines that thrive on both structure and fluidity.
The curved concrete cores act as metaphors for change and redirection in research. They also offer architectural punctuation at each end of the otherwise rectilinear form. The rhythm of the façade, with its interplay of wood grain and metallic lines, communicates a visual idea of alternating thought processes—rigid yet organic.
From a contextual perspective, the building introduces a modern identity at the entrance to Detmold, standing out while remaining respectful in scale and tone. The generous use of glass in the ribbon windows and balconies emphasizes openness, transparency, and collaboration—values critical to contemporary education.
Project Importance and Lessons for Architects
The KreativInstitut OWL teaches architects how to design for fluidity without sacrificing structure. It shows that a university can be more than a fixed typology; it can be an instrument of change.
- Typological shift: This project challenges the rigid typologies of university buildings by integrating convertibility into the core design.
- Sustainability lesson: It demonstrates how engineered timber and modular construction can reduce environmental impact and cost.
- Collaboration and innovation: The spatial composition supports informal encounters, multi-disciplinary partnerships, and acoustic experimentation.
In architectural thinking, the project promotes a dialogue between logic and imagination—an approach that resonates in our current era of uncertainty, adaptation, and cross-disciplinary learning.
✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight
KreativInstitut OWL is a spatial essay in architectural balance. It juxtaposes raw timber and polished concrete with carefully modulated transparency. The building’s strength lies in its modularity and structural clarity, offering freedom without chaos.
Yet the starkness of the concrete cores raises the question: does this symbolic rigidity contradict the fluid goals of a creative institute? Or does it anchor them?
Despite this tension, the project succeeds in establishing a fresh academic model—an architecture of openness and future flexibility. Its narrative embraces not just today’s needs, but those yet to come.
Conclusion
The KreativInstitut OWL is more than a new academic building—it’s a blueprint for how universities can evolve. Behles & Jochimsen’s design challenges conventional ideas of academic space by creating an environment that is physically adaptable and conceptually open. The use of timber not only satisfies environmental objectives but also sets a precedent for future academic construction.
The building also emphasizes collaboration across traditionally siloed disciplines. With its spatial openness, acoustic facilities, and aesthetic discipline, the structure becomes an enabler for innovation, whether in music, science, or entrepreneurship.
As academic institutions worldwide face shifting pedagogies, digital learning, and hybrid work, this project offers one potential answer. Architecture, here, becomes an active participant in shaping future learning—one that is responsive, resilient, and ready for change.
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