Modern home for children and young people

With the new construction of the Marcel-Callo-Haus in German Castrop-Rauxel, North Rhine-Westphalia, the city and church are setting up future-proof child and youth work.

Bringing generations together, providing opportunities for encounters and strengthening children, young people and families through diverse, low-threshold leisure and advice offerings while promoting the idea of sustainability - these are the core objectives of the “Widumer Tor” generation centre project in the city of Castrop-Rauxel in the Ruhr region.

A new children’s and youth recreational centre of the Catholic Church of St. Lambertus has been built in a central location in the Castrop old town, which also includes the city’s family office and the “Early Aid” advisory centre. The new building also includes a “FAIR divider”, where discarded but still edible food is donated and distributed. Three years earlier, a new daycare centre had already been opened on the former petrol station site, and a generation building for the Castrop-Rauxel-Süd pastoral association is to follow.

Marcel-Callo-Haus

The so-called Marcel-Callo-Haus, named after a French-born, Catholic youth worker who died in a concentration camp as an opponent of national socialism, is part of Georgspfadfinder e.V. and can already look back on a long tradition.

In addition to the Archbishopric of Paderborn and the Church of St. Lambertus, the city also contributed to the costs of the new building. Funding also came from the NRW special programme “Hilfen im Städtebau für Kommunen zur Integration von Flüchtlingen” (Helping in urban development for municipalities for the integration of refugees).

Award-winning new build

According to a draft by Prof. Gernot Schulz and André Zweering, a modern, two-storey Haus was created on the expansive site, which also includes a large garden with a rope climbing facility. The building offers plenty of space for children and young people from all over the city area on a floor area of around 400 square metres and received an award in the BDA Award Vest Recklinghausen/Gelsenkirchen in 2023.

Red-brown wood as a contrasting element

In addition to the family centre, the ground floor houses the kitchen and dining room, which can also be used for events and has barrier-free access to the terrace. Modern care facilities, multi-purpose and office rooms are located on the upper floor.

The angular new building has numerous square windows, with red-brown wooden frames that create a warm contrast to the dark clinker brick facade and let lots of light into the interior. Here, the wooden window frames and doors stand out from the light exposed concrete walls and dark floors. Acoustic ceiling panels were installed to counteract the sound reflecting walls made of concrete and plaster and the resulting lack of sound absorption. Not only do they blend in perfectly with the grey-white colour, but they also guarantee a reduction in reverberation times.