HORNBACH wants to prove that imaginative, ambitious handcrafted DIY projects are still relevant to a customer base that has to make do with less and less living space. To that end, HORNBACH collaborates with eight artists, architects, and creative minds to explore the design potential of just one square meter: Using a variety of materials, techniques, and styles, eight widely different projects were built – encouraging people to see new design opportunities in their own homes.

As all installations are custom-made, temporary constructions created by the artists, the installations are not available to buy – but tools and materials used for the projects can be purchased at HORNBACH.

Europe is heavily affected by the ongoing cost of living crisis. Inflation, stagnating wages, and sluggish urban development make adequate housing impossible to find for most. In the news, this development is often illustrated with the soaring price of rent per square meter, which in some areas has doubled or tripled in just the past few years. In Germany especially, the square meter is symbolically linked to a decrease in living standards and an increasingly restricted way of life. This gives our effort to reclaim this particular space as a stage for fun and creativity added significance.

HORNBACH has established itself as the hardware store chain for ambitious, large, and joyful projects. But as the cost-of-living crisis hits Europe, fewer and fewer people feel like they have the kind of space that is necessary for big projects. HORNBACH was at risk of becoming irrelevant to urban city-dwellers living in tight, increasingly expensive spaces – by far the biggest and fastest-growing target group in European markets. As the cost-of-living increases, and people pay more money for less space, we need to show that the HORNBACH ethos – creativity, skills, mischief – is still applicable in the homes of potential DIYers today.

To inspire people living in small spaces, we tried to change our collective perspective on the most defining small space of our time: The humble square meter. As the basic measuring unit of our existence, it has become a symbol of astronomical rents and unobtainable real estate. We created a campaign to demonstrate that even a single square meter is more than enough to create something extraordinary – and motivate people to see even the smallest corner with fresh eyes. Because every square meter can become the best in the world.

Across Europe, we transformed humble square meters into venues for creativity in all its forms. Unused square meters, from overlooked urban spaces to rural backwaters, became spaces for ideas.

Eight artists, activists and creatives created ambitious projects on a single square meter: a tiny plot of land in the German countryside became the site of the world's smallest festival stage; a Slovak backyard hosted a square meter farm; another square meter filtered dirty city rain in the middle of a busy street in Prague; a steel perch was installed in the middle of a Swiss lake; a soup kitchen was squeezed into a square meter in Austria. From careful, bespoke designs using select material to structures using scrap metals, the campaign featured designs with widely different approaches, styles, and goals.

Since its launch, the campaign has achieved a list of impressive results:

- Overall, we achieved over one billion impressions in Germany alone.

- Preference grew by 5 %, making HORNBACH the number one choice in its segment.

- Brand recall has risen by 8%, to reach an all-time high for the brand.

- Brand perception improved by 10% compared to 2022.