HOW DOES OLD BECOME NEW?

Since the planning and opening in the first half of the 19th century, nobody wanted to have a prison next door. The protests were loud, especially due to its proximity to the school. There are countless reports documenting this. However, the actual building itself was greatly misjudged. After all, even a prison building has quality, structure and even beauty. When it became apparent at the start of the 21st century that a new prison was being built, a long and heated debate again broke out over its location. Eventually it was agreed to build it in west Offenburg, in the inter-municipal industrial area. In April 2009, the new penal institution was opened with 440 places for convicts and prisoners on remand, and the venerable, historic prison on the Grabenallee closed its doors.

The repurposing of the old penal institution began 3 years later with the idea of turning it into a hotel. But how can you feel so at ease in a place of confinement? How do you transform bleak into welcoming? How can something so heavy be so light, so old so new, so forbidden so allowed ...?

After two years of planning, the proposals from the original architects were rejected. These plans had envisaged a central building with guest accommodation between the two historic buildings. The hallways would have had to be made considerably smaller in order to create more rentable floor space. This would have largely lost the building's historic character. Instead, the developers insisted on a delicate glass box which now spans the former prison yard and which houses the lobby, restaurant and bar. A few of the rooms were lost in the process, but the result was a place with the unique character that the building offers today.

Interior designers from Knoblauch-Design were commissioned to completely revamp the rooms into their current design. The completion and management of the construction project was then taken over by Trend Concept from Offenburg and pursued with passion and dedication right through to the end. Even the tiniest details were planned and executed with care and attention. The building as a sculpture that speaks for itself and which needs no other art to present itself.
At every point, care was taken to preserve the historic character, while at the same time responding to the exacting demands of future guests.