BERLIN, GERMANY 2007 2013
David Chipperfield Architects' office in Berlin is located in the district of Mitte, within walking distance of the Museum Island. The existing office premises have been expanded: four new volumes extend the five-storey brick building situated at the rear of the property, which was originally built as a piano factory in 1895. While the new, four-storey front building closes the street facade, the volumes inserted into the courtyards re-interpret the existing situation. They are suspended in ambivalence between restoring the situation from before the war damage and a new idea of a block interior: simple cubic volumes form independent structures, which can be perceived from different perspectives, while continuing the history of a typical courtyard structure and transforming it into a flowing exterior space.
The front building houses exhibition spaces and function rooms as well as an apartment. The four-storey middle building and the garden building dock directly into the existing building and extend it, providing generous meeting and office spaces. The two-storey middle building is free-standing and accommodates a canteen. Together with the garden courtyard the canteen creates a semi-public location for socialising and dialogue, fostering a campus-like atmosphere.
The monolithic walls are made of insulating concrete and assume almost all architectural functions: they support, insulate, protect and define interior and exterior space. Large windows, which are offset at each storey, provide diverse views in, out and through the buildings, varying the simple, stacked floor plan. The interior finishes are reduced: polished screed flooring, hand-painted wooden panels for doors and fixtures and veined marble slabs in the kitchen and bathroom areas. The exterior space, designed by Peter Wirtz, extends the interior and provides with its plants and materials a counterpoint to the architecture of the buildings.
Date:2007-2013
Gross floor area:1,800 m²
Client:Grundstücksgesellschaft Joachimstraße 11, Harald Müller, Eva Schad – Project development and client representation
Architect:David Chipperfield Architects Berlin
Situated in the center of Berlin near Hackesche Höfe, this project occupies a deep plot in an urban block that was heavily damaged during World War II. However, the maintenance of the historic building’s fabric was neglected for decades. The urban block was fragmented and occupied by a mix of historic and more recent prefabricated concrete buildings. Redevelopment started intermittently in the 1980s with demolitions, new buildings, and the reconstruction of shortcuts and alleyways. Since the beginning of the 1990s, many buildings have been renovated, followed by the refurbishment of the streetscape and the remodeling of squares and open green spaces.
The new interventions complement the existing brick building. The residential front building closes the street façade, and its overall proportions respond to the neighboring structures. Two cubic volumes of differing heights have been inserted in the middle of the plot. The view of the original building behind is preserved through a gap between these volumes and over the lower of the two, which strike a balance between re-establishing the typical pre-war courtyard structure and a post-war configuration of solitary buildings. The new buildings include an extension at the back of the existing offices. The proportions of the new constructions and the height of their eaves are adapted in accordance with their immediate neighbors, while each volume remains distinct through its materiality and fenestration.
The ground floor of the front building is used as an exhibition space, and the basement is used for storage and building services. Of the two middle volumes, the two-story structure serves as a canteen and links to the existing office building underground, while the taller four-story volume docks directly into the existing office building, providing a generous new meeting and office space on each floor.
There are three courtyards, the first of which is located between the front and the two middle buildings and is the most public. The level of seclusion increases in the second courtyard between the middle buildings and the original structure. The third courtyard between the original building and the furthest extension is a garden. The cobblestone pavement and trees contrast with the rigorous form of the buildings.
The exterior walls of the new buildings are made of full-depth insulating concrete, exposed both inside and outside. All walls support the large floor spans, avoiding the need for additional columns or supports. Screed is used for the flooring, while the doors, light partition walls, and installations are crafted from varnished wood or marble in contrast to the concrete.