B - L Barkow Leibinger Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH

Office Building "Bertha Berlin"

Office Building \
© Stefan Müller
Office Building \
© Corinne Rose

OFFICE BUILDING "BERTHA BERLIN"

Barkow Leibinger

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Capatti Staubach

GENERAL CONTRACTOR
W. Markgraf GmbH & Co KG

YEAR
2016

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Witte Projektmanagement GmbH

SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATE
DGNB Gold

LIGHTING DESIGN
Bartenbach

CLIMATE/ENERGY DESIGN, MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, HVAC AND PLUMBING
Reese Ingenieure GmbH & Co. KG

BUILDING PHYSICS
Werner Genest und Partner Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH

CLIENT
Bertha Berlin GmbH & Co. KG

CATEGORY
Office Buildings

LOCATION
Berlin, Germany

AREA
25000 m²

DESIGN TEAM
Ayax Abreu, Marian Beschoner, Ulrich Fuchs, Cynthia Grieshofer, Ina Reinecke, Ruwen Rimpau, Anna Saeger, Konrad Scholz, Morihide Seki, Antje Steckhan, Ludwig Uphues, Blake Villwock, Team Klaus Reintjes

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
RSP Remmel + Sattler Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH

FAÇADE CONSULTANT
Priedemann Fassadenberatung GmbH

Office Building \
© Stefan Müller
Office Building \
© Stefan Müller

A nine-story office building of 25,000 m2 is completed on Bertha-Benz-Straße as a fourth and final component of the “Lehrter Stadtquartier”, directly south-west of Berlin’s main railway station.

The building is in direct dialog with the three other volumes of the ensemble, for which clear master planning directives were given in terms of the buildings’ volume, height, and materiality.

Office Building \
© Stefan Müller
Office Building \
© Stefan Müller

The design guidelines for the quarter were refined in 2006 following an urban development competition via the office Auer + Weber + Assoziierte, designed as a further continuation of the existing development plan.

Oswald Mathias Ungers’ 1994 urban master plan for Humboldthafen, which isolates the railway station while sectioning off the adjacent area to the west into 7 plots based on the traditional Berlin block structure.

In addition to stipulations for a uniform building height and façades clad in light-colored stone, the design guidelines call for surface folding that modulates in response to one another on the inner-facing façades of the ensemble.

Office Building \
© Corinne Rose
Office Building \
© Stefan Müller
Office Building \
© Stefan Müller

Thus, the building has a “static” appearance towards the city on the outer-facing south and west sides, while the two façades toward the center of the quadrant dynamically undulate. In doing so, three horizontal bands - base, body and top floor - are articulated.

To compensate for the sloping terrain of the property, the building, which is organized around a central courtyard, is one story higher than the 3 neighboring building volumes.

It is accessed via two main entrances on different levels – one towards the north on Berta-Benz-Straße and a higher, second entrance at the street Alt-Moabit towards the south.

Office Building \
© Corinne Rose
Office Building \
© Stefan Müller

With their generous heights, these two levels offer space for two lobbies, several retail spaces, and a dining area, where a covered terrace opens up towards ULAP-Park to the west.

Parking spaces have been created in the areas on the base level that shift underground due to the slope of the site, joined by additional sub-level parking. Seven floors of offices rise above the ground level, cantilevering out slightly around the building and varying in depth.

Office Building \
© Corinne Rose
Office Building \
© Corinne Rose

Here, three infrastructural cores allow for a floor plan that can be flexibly divided into up to six units per floor, allowing for a versatile range of possibilities from individual offices to open-plan areas.

On the top floor setbacks on the north and east side create covered terraces with views over the city, the Chancellery, and the river Spree.

Office Building \
© Corinne Rose
Office Building \
© Corinne Rose

With its dynamic façade made of “Sellenberger Muschelkalk”, a light-colored natural stone, the building fits into the material and color spectrum of the ensemble.

While shell limestone is a material rooted in the Berlin building tradition, its unconventional use here gives it an individual, memorable appearance:

Narrow vertical fins, only 8-cm wide and with a spacing of 67.5 cm, cover the building with a light, elegant curtain wall. Varying in depth, the fins stagger over 3 divisions per floor height, therein forming an incremental gradient like a fabric cladding.

Office Building \
© Corinne Rose
Office Building \
© Corinne Rose


Office Building \
Site Plan
Office Building \
Ground Floor Plan
Office Building \
First Floor Plan
Office Building \
Regular Floor Plan


Office Building \
Section A
Office Building \
Section B


Office Building \
Elevation North
Office Building \
Elevation West

B - L Barkow Leibinger Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH
T +49 30 3157120 F +49 30 31571229
B - L Barkow Leibinger Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH
Schillerstraße 94, 10625 Berlin, Germany