"Düsseldorf is a really beautiful city. I love its manageability. But we have to make sure we preserve the subculture in the city."

He created the Bilker Bunker, transforms churches into columbaria (urn halls) and garages into apartments. Andreas Knapp founded the architecture firm "Küss den Frosch" in 2002 and loves kissing old buildings awake. The qualified architect is known for his unusual renovation and conversion projects. "We are architects, project developers, investors and real estate operators," is how he defines his business model. If he can't find anyone on the market to implement and continue his ideas, he simply does it himself and sets up a corresponding operating company. He has founded a total of five companies in this way. One of them is the non-profit limited company of the Bilker Bunker, which opened a year ago as an art and cultural space.

Few people have the experience of buying a bunker. How much does a bunker cost?
The purchase price is not so important. We paid a reasonable price for it. The expensive part is the conversion and maintenance. We had calculated five million for this.

There was a citizens' initiative that fought for the preservation of the Bilker Bunker. How did you get in touch with them?
The citizens' initiative had a big influence on the project. After all, it saved the Bilker Bunker from demolition. I approached the members and told them that I was considering buying the bunker. But I would only do so if we talked about a possible use beforehand. In September 2016, we invited all interested parties and held a small bunker party in the courtyard to find out what people wanted. We were expecting 200 people, but 2,500 turned up! Even the mayor was there, and it was a very nice event. On that day alone, five drum teachers approached me and asked for a room where they could teach. I'm a drummer myself and it was clear to me: Of course, we'll do it! This idea later gave rise to the six multifunctional rooms, which can be rented on an hourly basis using an app. We now have two sports rooms, two music rooms and two coaching rooms. One of the music rooms is already equipped with drums.

The Bilker Bunker also houses exhibition spaces and the Schleuse Zwei music bar, where concerts are held regularly. Who organizes the exhibitions and booking for the music events?
Tobias Rösgen manages Schleuse Zwei for us. He used to work for the Open Source Festival and is deeply rooted in the scene. The exhibition rooms for art and culture are located on the first floor and second floor. The exhibitions are curated by Christina von Plate, the managing director of the Bilker Bunker.

How is the rest of the space in the bunker used?
The second floor houses our employees' offices and the bicycle garage, where we offer rental spaces. On the third and fourth floors, there are showrooms for fashion and design and conference rooms for meetings. Above that is the former roof, which means the ceiling here is two and a half meters thick. And we have built five unusual apartments on the roof.

How did the idea of building apartments on the Bilker Bunker come about?
Well, we asked ourselves: how do you finance an art and culture bunker? We knew that we would need around five million euros. Our idea was to build five crazy apartments on the roof, which we would sell. And we would use the proceeds to pay for the conversion. We have to generate the monthly costs of running the Bilker Bunker ourselves - through Schleuse Zwei, the multi-purpose rooms and the bicycle garage. The income from renting out rooms for events and functions also goes into this one pot, the non-profit GmbH.

The Bilker Bunker has been around for a year now. Did your calculations work out?
We are on our way, the bunker is not yet self-sustaining. But the conversion has paid off. We received two million euros in funding from the federal government, so we only had to contribute just under three million from the proceeds ourselves. And, as we know, every new business idea has to establish itself first. It usually takes two to three years to break even.

What has changed for your architecture firm "Küss den Frosch" as a result of the Bilker Bunker?
The Bilker Bunker has received a lot of media attention as a flagship project. Now local authorities are approaching us and asking if we can develop a similar concept for them. This could be a bunker, a customs warehouse or an abattoir. We can show what is possible. People used to say: You're just messing around. Today we say: Look at Düsseldorf!

You have transformed a former church in Duisburg into a columbarium and turned a slaughterhouse into a food campus. How do you come up with ideas like this?
I just enjoy coming up with things like this. We also run the three city beaches on the Rhine. We are now planning a makerspace in a former carpentry workshop at Birkenstrasse 23 in Flingern. (A makerspace is a kind of open workshop in which innovative production processes and devices such as 3D printers are made available to private individuals. // Editor's note) We are doing this together with GarageLab e. V. and Markus Lezaun, who had a similar space on Rather Straße. Some may know him, his project was called "Super7000". Our makerspace will not only be a place where people can restore and repair things themselves. We are also planning to train people there.

What is special about Düsseldorf for you?
I came to Düsseldorf to study in 1988 and have lived here ever since. Düsseldorf has become home for me. And I think Düsseldorf is a really beautiful city. I love its manageability. But I think we have to make sure we preserve the subculture in the city. A lot has been torn down in recent years that I think would have been worth preserving, for example the old goods station or the Brause. That's why I wanted to at least save the Bilker Bunker and create a place for culture and subculture here. Düsseldorf can be just as cool as Berlin.

Where do you go when friends are visiting?
To the city beach on Robert-Lehr-Ufer. It's the quietest and least touristy of the three. You can sit there and relax. There are healthy organic products and you have a wonderful view of the setting sun.

... and if you want to switch off?
Then I go to Holland by the sea. You can be there in three hours from Düsseldorf. I regularly spend my weekends there - and come back full of energy.

bilkerbunker.de

Text: Ilona Marx
Photos: Markus Luigs