This year’s Lower Saxony State Prize for Architecture goes to the UNESCO World Heritage Site St. Mary’s Cathedral in Hildesheim with the Cathedral Museum and annex buildings. Minister Cornelia Rund presented the award on June 1, 2016 in the Old Town Hall in Hanover.
Schilling Architekten from Cologne and Hahn Hertling von Hantelmann, Landschaftsarchitekten from Hamburg were awarded the prize together with their client, the Hildesheim Cathedral Chapter, for the renovation and modernization of the Hildesheim Naval Cathedral. The jury, headed by Leipzig architect Prof. Stefan Rettich, emphasized that the architectural reinterpretation of the rooms and materials, while at the same time making the building’s history visible, created a collage of contemporary history. The urban redesign of the cathedral courtyard and the successful connection to the city center, which led to an upgrading of the surrounding neighborhood, were particularly convincing.
The State Prize is the highest architectural award in Lower Saxony and is awarded by the state in cooperation with the Lower Saxony Chamber of Architects. This year it was entitled “Building for the public” and the jury selected the winner from 96 entries. All the results will now be published in a documentation and shown as part of a traveling exhibition at various locations in Lower Saxony.