The Sussmann kiosk, a steel-and-glass pavilion that once stood beside the tracks at Munich Central Station, has been given a new use after plans to demolish it. The structure, designed by Dieter Schaich, will now support the Bayerischer Rundfunk gardening programme “Querbeet” as a bad-weather filming location and greenhouse.
For more than three decades, the kiosk sold German newspapers, magazines and international publications in the station’s Starnberg wing. When redevelopment plans left no place for it, demolition and disposal were scheduled. A group of five young architects—Andreas Ferstl, Europa Frohwein, Emily Grünecker, Kerstin Oertel and Philipp Reichelt—worked to find another solution, contributing 350 hours of unpaid work. Deutsche Bahn gave the pavilion away and covered the cost of dismantling it.
The architects sent around 800 emails while searching for a new owner before Bayerischer Rundfunk took the kiosk. It has since been rebuilt at the broadcaster’s site in Munich-Freimann. The team said the project required navigating legal and administrative issues involving the gift agreement, insurance, copyright, liability, logistics and possible contamination.
The relocation illustrates the practical obstacles facing circular construction, the architects said. Europa Frohwein noted that a metalworker involved in dismantling and rebuilding the pavilion estimated that constructing a comparable new building would cost at least €80,000.
The kiosk’s new role differs from specialist schemes that recover individual building materials: the pavilion itself has been reused, with a change of purpose. Whether its double glazing works well for greenhouse use remains to be tested. A disco ball installed for the opening may also become part of its garden decor.
Sources: FAZ.