Laboratory and Administrative Building for the Federal Environment Agency, Berlin

A modern laboratory building, which continues the volumetric design of the historic structure, will complete the listed building and revitalize the existing complex. At the same time, the formal unity of the design will reinforce the character of the entire ensemble as a campus at the Dahlem Triangle.

The guiding principle behind the design is to create a laboratory building that establishes a distinct identity for the Federal Environment Agency, thereby showcasing its role as an authority promoting sustainable and ecological policies. A key aspect of this is the resource-efficient use of the existing building stock. The existing structure from the 1960s will not be completely demolished, but rather reduced to its structural elements usable for the extension and integrated into the new building. Like an urban incubator, a new protective building envelope envelops the solid core. 
 Viewing the existing building stock as an “urban mine” means understanding architecture not as a final, self-contained work, but as an ongoing process. This way of thinking takes into account, even during the design process, perspectives for the period following the Federal Environment Agency’s interim use of the building. Flexible spatial structures allow for maximum adaptability to future uses.

The balance between preserving as much of the existing structure as possible and meeting the spatial requirements made it possible to retain and continue using three stories of the existing building.
The upper stories will be demolished due to insufficient floor-to-ceiling height. The clinker bricks from the facades are to be reused in the base of the new building. Wood-frame structures with prefabricated wood floors and prefabricated facade elements will be installed over the three existing stories (short construction time). BNB Gold certification is possible!