The construction efforts are intended to lend the entire building ensemble a design look taken from a single mould: The historic façades facing Roncalliplatz, Domplatte and Am Hof will be preserved, supported during the gutting phase and will subsequently shape the face of the Dom Hotel once more. An exclusive bar/ restaurant with a view of the cathedral is to be built on the roof. The building sections Am Hof and Wallrafplatz will also be redesigned and the existing gaps in the square will be closed off. After completion of the construction work, the “DomCarré” (“Cathedral Square”) is to become a prestigious property in the heart of Cologne.

For quite some time, nothing was visible to the public from the outside; since mid-2018, demolition work inside the building has been in full swing. The last demolition phase, which has since been initiated, involves the demolition of the remaining building down to the interior façade level, starting on the north side of Am Hof and then progressing successively. In order to be able to execute this demolition operation in compliance with all structural design requirements, the external façade safety scaffolding had to be erected in advance – always in parallel to the façade safety scaffolding. In the summer, the last currently remaining tenant in the Dom Hotel will move out of its traditional shop and into a newly constructed interim building. The remaining hotel floors will then be added to the building in order to close off the gap as desired in the “Am Hof” ensemble. As soon as the interior demolition work at the corner of "Am Hof" and Roncalliplatz has been completed, the construction site can be accessed from this side, and demolition material can be removed from here.

Before the actual civil engineering work began, the Roman-Germanic Museum (RGM) carried out archaeological excavations in the exposed areas: in particular, where the excavations were deeper than before, given that the Dom-Hotel will, in part, have a second basement. The excavations have now been completed. A historic wall found during these excavations has been preserved for posterity. After the completion of investigative work by the RGM, the actual civil engineering and structural work then began in order to erect the new building behind the historic façade. The listed façade of the Dom Hotel will be renovated over the next few months by stonemasons specialising in heritage conservation. Following the completion of the shell construction at Wallrafplatz, shell construction work will be continued in the subsequent construction phases of the “DomCarré”. Completion and commissioning of the Dom Hotel are planned for 2025.

From the outside – together with the new-build constructions of Am Hof and Wallrafplatz, as well as the architectural post-war gemstone that is Blau-Gold-Haus – the new and stunning ensemble that is the Dom Hotel and the associated high-quality retail space will make a significant contribution to upgrading the area in the cathedral’s vicinity.

The Bavarian Architects’ Pension Scheme acquired the Dom Hotel in 2009. The project developer at the time had initially planned refurbishment work – even as hotel operations were still ongoing. However, since the project’s development did not progress at the desired pace, the Bavarian Architects’ Pension Scheme continued to pursue the concept on its own from 2015 onwards, and it carried out elaborate planning for the building’s redesign. Among other things, an architectural competition for the redesign of the roof area was held in the same year.

For some time, nothing was visible to the public from the outside, but behind the scenes of the Dom Hotel, intensive work was already well under way: In 2017, around 3,000 tonnes of debris were removed from the interior of the building and hauled away in the course of pollutant clean-up work. One result of these redevelopment efforts has been the realisation that the building fabric is so bad that any renovation, as had been previously planned, is not technically and economically viable. Therefore, we favour gutting the building in such a way that preserves the historic outer façade and other listed parts.

Although this approach is considerably more expensive than renovation, it offers clear advantages: It can be realised more quickly, the property meets the highest technical and safety requirements and will have significantly longer maintenance cycles in the future, which, above all, reduces the burden on the surrounding area.

“We want to create real added value for a long period of time at this prominent location in the city of Cologne. This is not just about the Dom Hotel, but about an entire square between Roncalliplatz and Wallrafplatz and between the cathedral and the Heinzelmännchen fountain. We have the chance here to free the property once and for all from all the wounds of war and post-war urban development, and to make it fit for many decades to come.” Daniel Just, Chairman of the Board of the Bavarian Architects’ Pension Scheme.