Gutting and complete renovation / modernisation of 70s-building originally built for the East German news agency ADN into a modern office building.
The facility consists of two buildings: a 10-storey highrise and a 3-storey low-rise.
The pre-cast concrete façade of the highrise and the 70s concrete “waffle” facade of the lowrise were refurbished so that the facades’ forms and textures speak for themselves. Individual windows were replaced with continuous, glazed bands of windows with irregular window sizes bringing more light into the spaces. At night the building is lit by indirect interior lighting behind the window bands.
The inner areas of the low-rise were hardly usable due to poor natural lighting – this was remidied through extensive remodelling (removal of ceiling to expose the roof struxcture, large skylights) transforming the areas into spectacular rooms flooded with daylight and impressive ceiling heights. Glazed meeting boxes divide the large areas.
The concrete structure in both the highrise and lowrise were exposed and sandblasted. Exposed building services, Heraklith panels, were used to improve acoustics and a simple rubber floor are complemented by minimalist colour schemes interspaced with flashes of colour e.g. in the turquoise carpet of some meeting rooms.
Work stages: 1-3, material sampling, client representation, quality control
Location: close to Alexanderplatz , opposite the Soho House
Net Area: 17,000 sq m
General Contractor: Hagenauer GmbH
Building services (work stages 1-2 , quality control ) : EST Energy System -Technik GmbH
Tenant fitting out and furniture: de Winder Architekten
Construction period: August 2012 – July 2013