Heidestrasse

The preliminary study for the Heidestrasse District in Berlin encompasses 5 buildings, with a hotel, a day-care center, retail space, and around 270 apartments for different income levels, with the goal of creating a vibrant neighborhood that celebrates Berlin’s urban mix.

The brick facade on the upper floors of the buildings, which derives from the architectural expression of the site’s neighbor, folds back and forth slightly in places, generating a vertical pattern that structures the large building forms and unites them through a common architectural language. The brick facade is pulled down to different levels at the various areas of use, but never touches the ground. Glass fronts and metal cladding differentiate the functions at the base.

The 180 rooms of the hotel are along Heidestrasse on the upper floors, connected to the elevators and emergency stairs by a central corridor. The public-oriented uses, like the reception, lounge, restaurant, and bar, are located on the glassed-in and partially mirrored ground floor. The facade of the day-care center is maximized toward the courtyard and the park; its spatial center is the outdoor area in the courtyard. A residential building with 30 apartments will be built at the corner of Planstrasse and the green space. Another residential building in the recessed corner has a total of 54 apartments, with 9 units per floor served by an external access gallery. An apartment house with a total of 52 units is sited on the promenade and contains four fundamentally different dwelling types. The extra-high ground floor has studio apartments, each with its own entry from the street and a winter garden as a threshold. The tower, with a total of 132 apartments, is internally organized to consist, de facto, of two adjacent towers with separate addresses.