Description
The Environmental Technology Centre (Umwelttechnologiezentrum, UTZ) is part of the research and technology park in Adlershof, Berlin’s largest urban development project, which is to become a new district by 2010.
The new building presents itself as a double complex meandering form arranged in manageable units of varying sizes, which lend the facility the character of a residential building. The companies, all in the environmental sector, in biological technology or in energy technology, can rent office units varying from 20 m² to 1000 m². The sophisticated design of the interior courtyard – an interplay of orthogonally arranged open spaces paved with concrete blocks, landscaped areas and pools with wooden footbridges – is intended to promote the occupants’ identification with their rental units to the maximum. In the inner courtyard, tenants find seating areas for planned or spontaneous meetings. A four-storey entrance hall at the head of the double meander, with reception and conference areas and a cafeteria, provides space for formal and informal communication during exhibitions, receptions and workshops or during the lunch hour.
The WISTA, Wissenschafts- und Wirtschaftsstandort Adlershof [Adlershof Site for Science, Trade and Industry], financed the project for the most part from public funds. As investor, it performs an exemplary function. By organising workshops, publishing a company handbook, giving advice on the choice of suitable rental space, providing technical consultation and initiating cooperative projects, it promotes communication between tenants and thereby supports the synergistic effect. Apart from this comprehensive service, the clients’ principle focus was the environmentally responsible energy concept.
The building component cooling system, the brise-soleil system, the use of rainwater and the photoelectric facility are important components in the design of the climate control system. Exposed cavity ceilings, 1.5 metres high, function as thermal masses in winter and as cooling elements in summer, by means of background ventilation. In addition they house all the necessary cables that are needed for supply and interconnection, this being an essential element in attaining the largest possible degree of flexibility and variability of use. In order to conserve drinking water, rainwater is collected to water the garden. A complementary system of rigid horizontal louvres and moveable vertical louvres delivers optimal solar protection and enables individual regulation of the light and sun coming into the building. As they are equipped with photovoltaic elements, the vertical louvres of the brise-soleil in front of the entrance hall façade also supply the electricity for the common areas.
The attractiveness of the building is to be attributed to its great flexibility, the high-quality workplaces, the synergistic effects and the minimisation of running costs by means of a sensible climate control system.
Drawings
Ground floor
Section
Design sketch
Design for the climate control system. All the technology is integrated in the exposed cavity ceilings in order to use the concrete as thermal mass and to achieve maximum flexibility
Photos
Exterior view from the street
The four-storey entrance hall – annexed to which are the conference room, cafeteria and small meeting rooms – is a meeting point for the tenants
Originally published in: Rainer Hascher, Simone Jeska, Birgit Klauck, Office Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2002.