Vertical Berlin Mix
At the GSG courtyard on Helmholtzstraße in Berlin-Charlottenburg, a 40-story high-rise is being built that translates the traditional mix of uses found in Berlin’s city blocks into a vertical arrangement. The design stacks five blocks of varying sizes, each 25 meters high—based on Berlin’s standard eave height—into a stepped structure that tapers toward the top. The recesses break up the volume and create terraces for communal use.
The building’s program of use is arranged from bottom to top: a public marketplace with a café and library on the ground floor, above which are manufacturing and laboratory spaces with two-story halls, followed by flexible coworking floors and traditional office spaces. The upper floors house apartments and co-living units, topped by a publicly accessible rooftop garden. In between are communal floors featuring conference spaces, a food court, fitness, and leisure areas—they connect the functional zones and encourage interaction.
Architecturally distinctive is the folded glass façade, which reinterprets Expressionist brick architecture while combining sun protection, natural ventilation via box windows, and façade-integrated photovoltaics. A split-level system varies the ceiling heights depending on the use, creating spatial diversity instead of monotonous standard floors. In the area of the staggered ceilings, green climate balconies serve as buffer zones to the outdoor space. The energy concept relies on building component activation, geothermal energy, and a low-emission supply system for the entire neighborhood.
