Caritas Family Café

“This is to be a house where people feel welcome, where old and young people meet, eat, drink and talk with one another," says Project Coordinator Ursula Dollinger. There is no better way to describe the main aim of the new Family Café in Memmingen.

With the renovation of the existing building into a Family Café in Memmingen town centre, the Memmingen-Unterallgäu Caritas Association has created a meeting place.

But this is more than just a place to drink coffee. With the assistance of educational staff, children will be able to play in the “Playground” and in the “Games Room” whilst their parents enjoy a quite cup of coffee or head in to town to run errands. Yoga courses, toddler groups, discussion groups and self-help groups can also use the rooms available at the café as a venue their activities. There will also be a programme for confidential consultations, such as family and prenatal counselling.

“An idea based on the principal of community and openness, with plenty of face-to-face contact to provide calm and harmony,” is how architect Wolfgang Seitz from “Planbar Architekten” in Memmingen describes the project. Andreas Witzig, Managing Director of Ideen-Fabrik architects in Westerheim and responsible for the interior design of the Family Café, affirms that “the cliché of the standard café was replaced by a multicultural, children-friendly, spacious, imaginative family café.”

The selection of materials applied to the interior makes a significant contribution to the pleasant atmosphere. This is where Troldtekt ceiling panels with an untreated surface ensure the building has a natural character to it and that it enjoys optimum acoustics. In both the spacious café area and the “Playground” area, as well as in the adjoining second-hand shop, which sells clothes and other merchandise for children, Troldtekt Acoustic Panels serve to provide a harmonious atmosphere.