This seven-story building in Berlin’s Mitte district fits snugly into an empty lot sandwiched between two buildings, thus preserving the historical building lines of a typical Berlin block. The building is a concrete monolith, cast entirely on site. The clear articulation of its various layers takes visual cues from the immediate surroundings while also lending the building a distinctive and bold appearance. The irregular shape of the lot here was both an opportunity to create a dynamic system of interior spaces as well as a determining factor in the development of the exterior form. Thanks to its restrained color palette, the building blends in naturally with the historic architecture of the neighborhood, even as its wide windows and the obvious mass of its materials serve to set it apart from its surroundings.
A modern, lightweight concrete (Liapor) was used for the façades. The material assumes both a structural as well as a heat-insulating function—two qualities that at first glance seem to contradict one another. The two façades were conceived as solid concrete walls using Liapor, which made a separate insulation layer unnecessary.