GREEN WORKING ENVIRONMENT

Berlin / Mitte


Project	Revitalisation of a listed former post and telegraph office building complex and construction of a new seven-storey office building with underground garage
Client	Brant Esada Group
Size	Approx. 11,500 m² GFA
Timeline	2016 – 2020
Service	LPH 1 – 5 HOAI and Artistic Direction
Status	Under construction
Visualisation	Tomi Maslovarić
Photos	Luca Abbiento
Open space planning	Atelier le balto Landschaftsarchitekten

Liberated from parking spots and bicycle stands, the courtyards can breathe without constraint. Space is created thereby for a new ecological concept based on open space (atelier le balto).

Until the end of 2020, Michels Architektenbüro is renovating two heritage-protected buildings of the former Post and Telegraph Construction Office in Köpenicker Straße in Berlin, to be combined with a seven-storey newly constructed building, to include an underground bicycle park. Over 11,650 sq. metres, high-quality and energy-efficient office space is being created for a working environment of the future that is both urban and leafy.

The new building on Köpenicker Straße will receive a green façade, which, thanks to large glazing, can be experienced both inside and out. Woody pioneer plants grow over the steel mesh of the gabions as far as the balconies, serving both as a filter for particulate emissions and a climate buffer. The renovation of the existing building shows itself to be equally thoughtful: uncovered brick vaulted ceilings, refurbished box-type windows, restored pillars and balustrades, historical window grilles and banisters all enable the monument to retain its history.

To achieve a sustainable renovation and utilisation concept that aims for certification according to DGNB Gold, an environmentally friendly provision of energy is required, using photovoltaics and geothermal energy. A large underground parking area offers 350 bicycle stands and enables traffic-free courtyards with plenty of space for urban greenery.

The street façade integrates a heritage-protected fragment of the former Post and Telegraph Construction Office, which has survived over the years as a ruin. The plain façade of the new building extends protectively over the relic.

The new building brings nature into the façade. The design of landscape architects atelier le balto provides for planted gabions distributed throughout all the floors.

The rooms in the existing building receive the evolved ‘used look’. Combined with new, comfortable floors and freshly painted ceilings, the old building stock gleams, lending every single storey its own individual, authentic style.