Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt

The Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt is an architectural and urban development ensemble of its time, which includes the exhibition halls as historical and listed buildings designed in the art nouveau style. Changing exhibitions of major contemporary art are shown there. As a place for storing valuable works of art, museums have to meet special conservation requirements regarding the climatic conditions in their interior. The room climate must be stable with only minimal fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity. Up until now, major efforts have been required by building services engineering companies to meet these high indoor climate demands and these have gone hand-in-hand with high energy consumption. This makes neither ecological nor economic sense in the mid- to long term.

The challenge in the planned renovation of the Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt is to ensure an indoor climate in the listed buildings that is as constant as possible, while at the same time minimizing the use of technology and ensuring low operating and follow-up costs. To achieve this, integrated and innovative concepts are called for that are individually tailored to the renovation task. At the same time, it is hoped that this example will help people to better understand the requirements of museum buildings.