New Unionhilfswerk Admin Building, Modern Berlin office property design, German commercial interior photos
New Unionhilfswerk Admin Building in Berlin, Germany
9 August 2023
Address: Schwiebusser Str. 18, 10965 Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
Design by Baumschlager Eberle Architekten
Photos by Ulrich Schwarz
New Unionhilfswerk Admin Building, Berlin
A building for the present and for the future. Unionhilfswerk’s new admin building was to make an unpretentious yet positive and powerful contribution to the Berlin cityscape with a particular focus on sustainability – in the widest sense of the word. It was to blend into its environment and provide high-quality space, to use resources sparingly and age gracefully.
The new building impresses with its simple elegance, clear structure and the rhythm of its openings. The punched-window facade is characterised by vertical window formats surrounded by fascia bands, and deep reveals. The recessed foyer area and the terrace on the top floor give structure to the space and enhance the building’s sculptural qualities, while its simple, compact volumes bring order to a disparate urban setting. It links to the comb-shaped structure of the existing nursing home and offers the potential for a built-on extension at the closed firewall to the east. The building follows the current land-use plan in terms of both its five-storey height and the building depth which, at 20m, maximises floor areas without taking light from the nursing home that sits behind it.
Attractive outdoor space, high energy efficiency. A lightwell that links all floors, its openings staggered storey by storey, forms the core of the building, which is positioned to carve out two small outdoor spaces that serve as an extended exterior zone for the conference area and a community garden that sits between admin building and nursing home. A recess in the facade signals the main entrance. The energy concept aims to achieve a total annual primary energy consumption of 100kWh per m2 of floor space whilst ensuring maximum comfort and optimum room climates. With excellent energy efficiency credentials thanks to its compact form and monolithic masonry facade, the building’s high thermal storage capacity ensures that temperature correction is required on just a handful of days a year. Heat is generated by a reversible heat pump (heating/cooling functions) that operates in conjunction with a PV installation.
Brief: Unionhilfswerk’s new admin building was to make an unpretentious yet powerful contribution to the Berlin cityscape with a particular focus on sustainability – in the widest sense of the word. It was to blend into its environment and provide high-quality space, to use resources sparingly and age gracefully.
Realisation: The new building impresses with its simple elegance, clear structure and the rhythm of its openings. The punched-window facade is characterised by vertical window formats surrounded by fascia bands, and deep reveals. Its simple, compact volumes bring order to a disparate urban setting.
Features: A lightwell that links all floors, its openings staggered storey by storey, forms the core of the building, which is positioned to carve out two small outdoor spaces that serve as an extended exterior zone for the conference area and a community garden that sits between admin building and nursing home. The energy concept aims to achieve a total annual primary energy consumption of 100kWh per m2 of floor space whilst ensuring maximum comfort and optimum room climates. The building offers excellent energy efficiency credentials thanks to its compact form and monolithic masonry facade.
New Unionhilfswerk Admin Building, Berlin – Property Information
Typology: Office and administration
Client: Stiftung Unionhilfswerk Berlin
Landscape design: hochC Landschaftsarchitekten, Berlin
Interior design: Baumschlager Eberle Architekten
Site: Schwiebusser Str. 18, 10965 Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
Competition/Order type: 1st prize 2015
Site area: 5,370 m2
Building surface area: 795 m2
Gross floor area: 4,903 m2
Building volume: 15,950 m3
Floor area: 3,154 m2
Start of planning phase: 2017
Start of construction: 2019
Completion: 2021
Construction cost: EUR 9.95 million
Photography: Ulrich Schwarz
New Unionhilfswerk Admin Building Berlin images / information received on 080823 from Baumschlager Eberle Architekten
Location: Berlin, eastern Germany, western Europe
Berlin Architecture
Berlin Architecture Designs – chronological list
Berlin Architectural Designs – recent architectural selection on e-architect below:
Museum für Naturkunde
Architects: gmp
image courtesy of architects practice
Museum für Naturkunde
Tegel Airport Terminal B
Architects: chaixetmorel
image courtesy of architects practice
Terminal B, former Berlin-Tegel Airport
Oasis Residential Complex, Bachstrasse 1, 10555 Berlin
Design: TCHOBAN VOSS Architekten
photo © Roland Halbe
Oasis Residential Complex, Tiergarten District
Celebrated German Capital City Buildings
Jewish Museum Berlin building
Design: Daniel Libeskind Architect
Jewish Museum Berlin
Neues Museum
Design: David Chipperfield Architects
Neues Museum
Berlin National Gallery
Design: Mies van der Rohe Architect
National gallery building
Comments / photos for the New Unionhilfswerk Admin Building, Berlin design by Baumschlager Eberle Architekten page welcome