Glass house (Herten)
The glass house is a meeting point in downtown Herten . It has proven itself as a congress center and cultural meeting point and also houses the city library . The eye-catcher of the house is a 13 m high rotunda . At the same time, as a meeting place, it forms the heart of the glass house.
background
The idea of setting up a cultural meeting point in the inner city of Herten, where the focus is not on consumption , but on communication and education , came from the Herten honorary citizen and meat manufacturer Karl Ludwig Schweisfurth . In order to advance the construction of the building, Schweisfurth made DM 1 million available to the city for planning purposes. The pattern of the pyramid in the herb yard served as a template .
architecture
The design for the glass house comes from the Tübingen architects LOG-ID / Dieter Schempp. The glass house is characterized by its futuristic architecture , which nonetheless blends harmoniously into the surroundings. The design on Hermannstrasse adapts to the smooth facades of the neighboring houses, while the shapes of the neighboring houses are taken up on Jakobsplatz. The galleries of the glass rotunda serve as spectator boxes during events .
The groundbreaking ceremony took place in November 1991 , the city library was opened in May 1994 , and the entire building opened four months later.
The construction costs amounted to DM 25.7 million (EUR 13.14 million).
Energy concept
The greenhouse is heated by a combination of district heating and the concept of “green solar architecture” . The air is heated in the glass rotunda and in the spaces between the building ceiling and the glass roof (air collectors). The heated air flows into the library in winter . Together with the district heating, the rooms are kept at a pleasant temperature. The used air is led through the rotunda , where it is enriched with oxygen by the subtropical plants and cleaned of pollutants. The entire air conditioning system is computer and sensor-controlled , so that around 30% of energy is saved compared to conventional systems .
Library
The "new" city library Herten offers a wide range: non-fiction , specialist literature , novels or children's books and youth literature , software ( applications and games ), videos on VHS or DVD , current print media or trends such as audio books and CDs . A total of over 100,000 books and other media can be found here on over 2000 m² .
In addition, the library has publicly accessible PCs and Internet workstations .
A special feature of the library are the “rolling” shelves in the children's / youth library, through which space can be created for groups.
With the opening of the city library in the glass house, the district libraries in Herten were given up.
Cultural meeting
Since opening in 1994, the glass house has made a name for itself as a conference venue . The multifunctional rooms , equipped with modern technology , are suitable for seminars and meetings as well as for trade fairs , congresses and celebrations . Depending on the seating, there is space for 120 to 350 people.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 35 ′ 37.9 ″ N , 7 ° 8 ′ 18 ″ E