St. Antony Hütte

The image of a slagheap, which was photographed onsite and applied to the membrane that envelopes the building, creates interesting abstract impressions and relates the architecture to the region’s industrial history and culture.
Visitors move through the exhibition on a central catwalk of COR-TEN steel and a circumferential grid walkway. The old blast furnace is a visual highlight: the foundations are outlined in LED strip lights and steam rises from the middle, reminding us of the industrial production that used to carry on here. The eye-catching installation is visible from the road. Our aim is to use the advanced technology of our era to build a bridge between the present and the past.

The excavation of the St. Antony ironworks is making the industrial roots of the Ruhr area accessible to a wider public. To give visitors an impression of the dimensions of the old works, they have been incorporated inside a building, which also protects this fascinating archaeological site from vandalism and adverse weather conditions.
The basic idea in designing this kind of museum space is to take up the onsite materials. We selected opaline polycarbonate elements for the walls and roof, meaning the light from inside glows through the shell, illuminating the building attractively on the outside. The image of a slagheap, which was photographed onsite and applied to the membrane that envelopes the building, creates interesting abstract impressions and relates the architecture to the region’s industrial history and culture.
Visitors move through the exhibition on a central catwalk of COR-TEN steel and a circumferential grid walkway. The old blast furnace is a visual highlight: the foundations are outlined in LED strip lights and steam rises from the middle, reminding us of the industrial production that used to carry on here. The eye-catching installation is visible from the road. Our aim is to use the advanced technology of our era to build a bridge between the present and the past.