Baukulturbericht 2026/27: Phase Zero as a Requirement, Not an Option
Every two years, the Bundesstiftung Baukultur publishes the Baukulturbericht — the most important document on the state of building and planning in Germany. The 2026/27 edition focuses intensively on what distinguishes successful projects from failed ones. The answer is unambiguous: it’s the processes that happen before the actual planning.
The report’s central demand: use Phase Zero to lay the foundation for building culture.
The recommendations at a glance
The report sets out concrete demands for clients, planners, municipalities and policymakers. The key ones:
Design processes systematically — Phase Zero must be structured and actively moderated as part of project leadership. Site and context analyses, defining objectives, stakeholder involvement and life-cycle thinking belong early in the process — not as an appendix, but as the foundation.
Anchor design quality early and bindingly — Questions of quality must not surface only in later planning phases. They need to be integrated into procurement, funding and planning from the outset. The report also calls for design competitions and RPW procedures to be used more frequently.
Consider the entire life cycle — Buildings get built — but they also need to be operated, maintained and, at some point, adapted. The report calls for the operating phase to be planned and financially secured from the very beginning.
Conversion before new build — Renovation, densification and change of use should be understood as the preferred strategies of urban development. This saves on land and infrastructure costs while preserving future-proof, identity-forming structures.
Design spaces for people — Insights from the social and neurosciences should feed more strongly into planning. Connection to nature — plants, water, daylight — is called for as an active design principle, not a decorative extra.
What this means for planning culture
The Baukulturbericht 2026/27 is not an academic document. It speaks a language that planners, clients and municipalities can all understand equally well — and it clearly names where German construction needs to structurally improve.
The message to architecture practices is twofold: first, to actively offer Phase Zero services and anchor them methodically. Second, to guide clients who don’t know or underestimate this phase — and show them what they stand to gain from it.
A confirmation, not a surprise
For practices that have offered feasibility studies and existing-building analyses as a core service for years, the Baukulturbericht 2026/27 reads like a long-overdue confirmation. The questions Phase Zero asks aren’t new. What’s new is that they are now recognised as indispensable at the highest professional level.
alma:s Architekten is a member of the Förderverein of the Bundesstiftung Baukultur.
This article is part 2 of a three-part series on Phase Zero: What Is Phase Zero? · Phase Zero in Practice: What Clients Need to Know