Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices

Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu

SUHRKAMP ENSEMBLE OFFICES

Bundschuh Architekten

AREA
6851 m²

YEAR
2020

PHOTOGRAPHS
Laurian Ghinitoiu

CATEGORY
Apartments, Office Buildings, Retail

MANUFACTURERS
GIRA, Atlas Schindler, Bembe, Hormann, Lindner, Schüco, Warema

LOCATION
Berlin, Germany

LANDSCAPE
Hahn Hertling von Hantelmann

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
ifb frohloff staffa kühl ecker

DESIGN TEAM
Giulia Albarello, Ignacio Bóscolo, Roger Bundschuh,James, Crookston, Yannis Efstathiou, Emmanuel Hamelin, Wolfgang, Mitterer, Philipp Ockert, Matthias Rothhaar, Eloïse Rudolph, Fabian, Schwade, Florian Schwinger, Hannes Toepper, Thibault Trouvé, Harry Tweddell

CLIENTS
IBAU AG/Suhrkamp AG

MEP
Protec Planungsgesellschaft mbH

SITE SUPERVISION AND TENDERING
DGI Bauwerk Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH

INTERIORS FOR TENANT SUHRKAMP
Kinzo Berlin GmBH

Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu

Context. The site is located on a site in central Berlin. After being razed by the authorities at the beginning of the 20th century, the area was developed by the Architect Hans Poelzig as one of the first major urban renewal schemes in Germany and subsequently partially destroyed during WWII.

Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu

Our design for the Ensemble of german publishing company Suhrkamp references both the physical context as well as the rich history of the surrounding area.

Urban scale The project redefines the urban block as a heterarchical antithesis to the standard hierarchic berlin Block which typically articulates a „show“ facade and urban spaces of secondary value in the interior of the block.

Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu

The individual buildings of the project cease to have front and back facades but are surrounded by continuity of public and urban space. The private becomes public and vice-versa.

Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu

The south-facing public square is formed by the positioning of the main building to the north and thus completes the sequence of public squares and parks.

Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu

It both opens the block and closes the urban figure of „Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz“ which is centered around the Volksbühne Theater.

Facing busy Torstrasse to the north, the project presents itself more closed, the cantilevered volume connects the neighboring facades and recreates the historic street front in an abstract manner. The strong horizontality references the formal dynamic of Poelzigs architecture and translates it into a contemporary language.

Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu

Functionality. The Ensemble consists of three parts: The publishing house, an extension office building, and a residential block. All ground floors have high-frequency uses such as an art gallery, Restaurant, and an e-bike store.

Publishing House The 6 floors of the publishing house are connected by a „narrative“stair. This central element of the design enables free movement within the various (vertically located) departments and stages of bookmaking.

Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu

At the same time, this stair defines a strong concrete pillar that grounds the architectural volume in the urban fabric. Thus, the narrative stair functions both on an urban and interior design level and was one of the central ideas of the spatial conception.

The office floors are divided into the large open-plan spaces to the south and individual rooms (for the editors) to the north.

Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu

The facade mirrors this spatial approach, with expansive fixed-glazing openings to the public square in the south and smaller, more vertical proportions to busy Torstrasse in the north.

The spatial idea of the office thus operates on the urban, architectural, and interior scale. The Shelving and furniture designed by Kinzo complement this approach to include the detail level, creating a unified approach in all scales.

Residential The residential units are grouped together in a concrete-faced block, large fixed glazing extends these spaces into the urban realm and connects them to the public square.

Materiality and Construction. All interior surfaces remain in rough, exposed concrete, contrasting with the smooth and sharp-edged aluminum facade with expansive fixed glazing.

Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu

Operable aluminum panels open like scales and connect the workspaces with the urban realm. Office spaces are mechanically ventilated and cooled through a passive cooling system embedded in the concrete ceilings.

Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu


Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
© Laurian Ghinitoiu


Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
Plan
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
Plan
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
Plan
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
Plan
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
Plan
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
Plan
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
Plan
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
Site plan


Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
Section AA
Suhrkamp Ensemble Offices
Axo