Architecture

Aufbau Haus Prinzenstraße 85
Architecture: Clarke und Kuhn, Berlin

The older part of Aufbau Haus at Prinzenstrasse 85 was designed by the architects Clarke and Kuhn.
It is a conversion and new building on the site of former Bechsteinhaus, directly on Berlin's Moritzplatz.
The existing building was converted and expanded into a retail space with integrated functions such as publishing houses, bookshops, theatre, club and daycare centre.

The design for the house is based on the idea of appropriating the Bechsteinhaus with a small new building measure and developing a distinctive and identity-creating place.
This involves the improvement of the urban space at Moritzplatz, Prinzenstrasse and Oranienstrasse, as well as the architectural impact of the new building both internally and externally. 
A key feature of the planned building is the joint between the new building on Prinzenstrasse and the existing parts.
It is a public outdoor space in the building and multiplies the presentation and access possibilities for users: the "Stadtterrasse" (City Terrace) and the arcades on the upper floors.  

This new building project consists of a five-storey structure with a head building that, at 22 metres high, resumes the former eaves height.
One storey was added to the head of the existing building.
The entire former factory building was renovated in terms of energy to meet today's requirements.
The existing large-scale interior spaces will continue to be used accordingly.
Here, generous retail spaces are created in the rear part of the building and smaller office units adapted to the existing building in the front part of the building. 

From the very beginning, it was clear that a second construction phase would later close the block's edge to Oranienstrasse, today's Aufbau Haus Prinzenstrasse 84. 
 

Gross floor area of existing building: approx. 16,090 sqm 
Gross floor area of new building: approx. 7,230 sqm 
Gross volume: approx. 108,770 cbm 
Completion: 06/2011 

Architects: Roland Kuhn, Maria Clarke 
Collaborators: Julia Sohn, Anne Feldmann 

Aufbau Haus Prinzenstraße 84
Architecture: Barkow Leibinger, Berlin

The second construction phase was realised according to plans by Barkow Leibinger, the project emerged from a competition in 2012.
An open, flexible reinforced concrete skeleton structure and simple, robust materials – with this typical loft character, the second building phase as a "refined shell" offers the right setting for users from the creative industry with their different usage requirements and individual finishing wishes. 

The new building mediates between the historic Elsner-Haus from 1914 and the first construction phase of the Aufbau Haus with its exposed concrete façade and large-format openings.
It combines the old and the new to create its own architectural language in the tradition of industrial and commercial buildings that have been converted into lofts, as can be found in the neighbourhood – for example the Pelikan-Haus in Ritterstrasse by Kurt Berndt or the buildings at Oranienplatz and Engelbecken designed by Max and Bruno Taut.
Important references for the design were also the timelessly modern industrial buildings by Albert Kahn, as for example for the Packard company in Detroit. 

Several incisions in the volume – the funnel-shaped main entrance, an open "city loggia" facing Moritzplatz and a passage at the transition to the Elsner-Haus – create direct pathways and visual references to the inner courtyard and link it to the urban space.
The ground floor of the building houses a restaurant, an exhibition space and a gallery.
All other spaces in the building are modular, flexibly connectable units that can be adapted to the needs of the tenants. 

The appearance of the new building is characterised by the grid of its concrete construction and its infill with massive parapet elements made of dark grey granite.
The façade on the courtyard side is based on the same constructive principle, but is intended to be overgrown by climbing plants over time.
The staggered storey constructed of concrete and wood offers an open, column-free interior with terraces on both sides and wide views over the roofs of the city. 

Competition staff:
Martina Bauer, Michael Bölling, Clemens Gerritzen,  Pearl Tae Kang, Elizaveta Mosina, Dylan Marx Wood 
Model: Jens Weßel

Design and execution staff: 
Andreas Lang (Projektleitung), Sebastian Awick, Marian Beschoner, Clemens Gerritzen, Pearl Tae Kang, Elizaveta Mosina, Konrad Scholz 
Model: Jens Weßel, Pearl Tae Kang 

Size
8,335 sqm 

Competition
2012, 1st prize

Construction period
2013 - 2015 

Awards
2017 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – 
Mies van der Rohe Award, Nomination