Page 82 - Designing Ways 267

Timber Hybrid Office

Ensemble EDGE

Suedkreuz Berlin

Berlin, Germany

CHOBAN VOSS Architekten proudly introduces EDGE
Suedkreuz Berlin, a seven-storey office complex consisting of
Ttwo buildings with a total floor area of approximately 32,000
m². The complex stands on an approximately 10,100 m² site and has
been built using sustainable, climate and resource-saving techniques,
as well as modular hybrid-timber construction techniques. The larger
of the two freestanding buildings contain approximately 20,000 m² of
floor space, making it the largest hybrid-timber building in Germany,
and one of the largest in Europe. The German Sustainable Building
Council (DGNB) certified the project as Germany's most sustainable
building in 2022. Since summer 2022, it has served as the new
German headquarters for energy supplier, Vattenfall.

The area around Berlin Suedkreuz regional, long-distance, and S-Bahn
station, part of the so-called ‘Schoeneberger Linse’, is developing into
a new urban district with an attractive mix of functions (housing,
work, culture, and trade). The new office complex is part of a new
urban district. Its planning involved restructuring the area between
Sachsendamm, Hedwig-Dohm-Strasse, Hildegard-Knef-Platz,
and Lotte-Laserstein-Strasse. The smaller of the two buildings (the
‘Solitaire’) is an elongated freestanding building which continues
the line of the façade of the larger office building. The latter is a
quadrangle-type structure (the ‘Carré’) with an irregular trapezoidal
footprint. The two buildings form a street front facing Hedwig-
Dohm-Strasse. In the direction of Südkreuz Station, they create a new
urban plaza with green spaces and seating.

The Carré building Entrance area with wood mullion-transom construction
The heart of the Carré building is a spacious, light-filled atrium. A of structural laminated veneer lumber.
two-storey entrance lobby with a clear height of seven metres facing
the plaza in front of the building opens up the massive, strictly gridded
volume, and directs the gaze firmly towards the building’s impressive
interior. The 26-metre high atrium is covered by a transparent ETFE
foil roof carried by a wooden-truss construction. The continuous
floor-to-ceiling windows in the offices, the glazed entrance area, and
the large panoramic window in the building’s lounge additionally
contribute to the abundance of daylight.

A central highlight is the four treelike shapes of different heights
which grow skywards under the foil roof as if in a greenhouse.
Their lamellate spruce-wood structure gives them a resemblance to
gigantic mushrooms. At ground level, green islands of tranquillity
group themselves around their stems. The atrium is additionally
enlivened by community and food areas. The crowns of the so-called
‘Trees’ carry platforms for recreation; these form green leisure and
communication zones at various heights. The largest is 14.87 metres
high, and has a platform with a diameter of 6.20 metres; the lowest is
4.28 metres high, with a diameter of 7.20 metres. These structures are
linked by filigree steps with white railings, which, on the other side

82 Issue 267 • dw