Barkow Leibinger

Barkow Leibinger
Schillerstraße 94, D–10625 Berlin
T +49(0)30 315712 -0 F -29
info@barkowleibinger.com
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Competition - Estrel Tower Berlin

Complementing the existing Estrel Hotel, the largest in Germany, a new hotel tower and conference center will establish a new gateway to the center of Berlin from the BER International Airport. The tower at 175 meters (578 feet) will be the tallest high-rise in Berlin to date. Located on the Sonnenalle at the intersection of the Ship Canal, S-Bahn and Autobahn the site is a threshold between the heterogeneous industrial/ residential periphery and the historical neighborhoods of Neukölln. Free from the historical constraints of the center the project is an ensemble of elements revolving around the sloped silhouette of the tower with its roof terrace orienting to the city.

In response to the existing Estrel Hotel and resembling the children’s game “Tangram” the proposal is organized into a series of extruded triangulated volumes of different sizes and heights mediating the tower into the low-rise surrounding neighborhoods. This cascading family of forms, from high to low-scaled, radiates to form two strong orientations: to the street side (Sonnenallee) and to the water side (Ship Canal).  Functions are distributed into the different sized volumes including the hotel, an office building, park house, glass-roofed hotel entrance atrium, and the low-flat conference center. This programmatic clarity allows easy phasing variations, which is important for such a large scale development. A ground floor promenade begins with the hotel drop-off which continues into the hotel atrium and on to an arcade fronting the conference center.

Facades compliment the idea of “similar but distinct” building volumes and are articulated to enhance the verticality of the individual parts of the ensemble in metal and glass.

Project Information

Architects — Barkow Leibinger, Berlin, Frank Barkow, Regine Leibinger

 

Team — Michael Ahlers, Martina Bauer, Ana Filipovic, Pierre Guérin, Nadja Jeske, Ki Jun Kim, Richard Sharam, Tyler Swingle, Patrick Unger, Lukas Weder, Jens Weßel, Leonie Woltermann

 

Program

Hotel, Offices, Event Spaces

 

Location

Berlin, Germany

 

Invited Competiton – 1st Prize

2013/2014

Client

Estrel Hotel-Betriebs-GmbH

 

Structural Engineer

B+G Ingenieure Bollinger + Grohmann GmbH, Berlin

 

Mechanical Engineer

Rentschler und Riedesser, Filderstadt

 

Energy Design

Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH, Stuttgart

 

Landscape

Hager Partner AG, Berlin

 

Elevator Consultant

Jappsen Ingenieure GmbH, Berlin 

 

Traffic Consultant

Ingenieurbüro Vössing Vepro GmbH, Berlin

 

Fire Protection Consultant

hhpBerlin, Ingenieure für Brandschutz GmbH, Berlin

 

Renderings

bloomimages

 

Model Photos

© Werner Huthmacher

© Monath + Menzel