Brühl City Hall and Library by JSWD

Brühl is a small town near Cologne that is famous for its UNESCO World Heritage castles. Cologne-based architecture firm JSWD has renovated its city hall, originally built in 1858, and it expanded to include a new building. Made of light-colored clinker brick, all the way to the gabled roof, the monolithic structure references the historic cubature of the city hall, creating a stand-alone building in a style typical of the region.

The old and new buildings are interlocked with one another at all levels, with both parts merging to form a single unit. The three staggered, gabled roofs of the interlinked structures are visible from the street. The new build houses the city administration and municipal library. The children’s library in the basement opens to a reading courtyard. JSWD was able to preserve as much of the historic building’s fabric as possible. The redesign of the adjacent Janshof transforms its almost backyard-like character into a high-quality, car-free urban space.