Brandlhuber + Emde . photos: © Erica Overmeer
The gallery and ateliers at Brunnenstrasse 9 is built on the foundations of a building ruin whose condition resulted from a bad investment during the 1990’s. This made the plot unattractive for corporate investors, who were purchasing empty lots at this time. At the same time this created an opportunity for the architect, being both investor and constructor, to buy the land for the actual costs minus the costs for demolition. When the plot was purchased in 2007, only a couple of walls and parts of the basement ceiling remained, alongside the elevator shaft and entry passage. Instead of being removed, the original structure was included and developed further into the new design.
At the time, Berlin’s urban planning department promoted the agenda of “critical reconstruction,” referring to the city’s historical context. Rather than interpreting critical reconstruction as regressive, Brunnenstraße 9 uses the idea of referencing the site’s context to create a new typology for working and living.
Therefore, the basic cubature is defined by the eave heights of the two adjacent buildings, while the attic floor is shaped accordingly to compromise with the back neighbours, ensuring that light reaches the buildings in the rear courtyard. The continuation of the adjacent building heights into Brunnenstrasse 9 results in two different floor heights, causing a 30cm difference. As a result, a 30cm step divides the floor plate on every story, naturally dividing the space for different uses, creating different heights. The initially missing ceiling parts between basement and ground floor creates a double height room, visible from the street level. If desired, this single space could easily be divided into two by inserting the missing ceiling, using the visible bolts already set in the reinforcement.
The concrete core, reduced to its minimum, houses the bathrooms and the elevator. It directly connects the different units with the street level via an exterior entrance located in the public passageway. Besides this central core, there is no other physical connection between the single units. The only way to circulate between them is either through elevator access or the external staircase attached to the rear façade.
This external circulation layer is offset five meters from the back façade, in accordance with building code and fire regulations. By displacing the staircase to the exterior, the need for an interior stair is eliminated, which allows for maximum spatial efficiency and complete independence of the users. The platforms connecting the exterior staircase, additionally function well as terraces and public space for the residents.
As the tram wires prohibited firemen to use extendable ladders at the street side, it was necessary to develop a second access in the rear. In order to comply with regulations for the second escape way — via the windows — the courtyard ground was raised 72cm on one side and 36cm on the other, according to the maximum length of the fireman’s 8-meter ladder.
This methodology of understanding, using and reacting to the given rules and building code parameters also shaped the facade. The street side, facing the heavily trafficked Brunnenstrasse, is given a closed quality. To allow light to enter the space without opening the façade to the street, every story has a fixed glazed part, whose length derives from the maximum weight liftable by the average crane, while the rest is a translucent polycarbonate. The polycarbonate has a sun protection layer, which creates different colors throughout the course of the day. Small ventilation flaps, set on the facade’s side, allow for the cross ventilation of the spaces. In contrast, the back-facade towards the courtyard is completely glazed. Ceiling-high sliding doors allow the users to open half the facade towards the courtyard. All facade elements are resting on a robust metal substructure of L brackets, which allows future change to the facade, following the logic of flexibilty and adaptabily performed on the inside.
The concrete slabs were built at the same time the shell was constructed. All interior walls are cast in concrete without any preconceived system for the formwork and pattern. All the walls and floors were ready by the time the structural work was accomplished, and were treated afterwards. The electrical system is concealed in pipes laid in the concrete while the heating pipes are exposed without any insulation, heating the space. This concrete shelf enables the user to adapt the rooms according to the specific needs, while keeping the costs to a minimum, ensuring the affordability of the space.
The only pre-installed elements are the mechanical connections and oak planks along the street-facade which function as the substructure for the polycarbonate elements on one side, but can be used as benches, standing desk or shelves on the other side.
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Project title: Brunnenstraße 9
Client: Arno Brandlhuber
Location: Berlin Germany
Design: 2007
Completion: 2010
Architect: Brandlhuber + Emde, ERA, Burlon
Design team: Thomas Banek, Silvia Farris, Christian Geisser, Tobias Hönig, Andriana Ivanda, Katharina Janowski, Chrissie Muhr, Jan Winterstein
Project team: Marc Bain (Kunst am Bau), Jürgen Bernhardt (advisory engineer), Thomas Fellerhoff (structural engineer), Halfkann + Kirchner (fire protection), terraform (landscape planning)
Site area: 279 m2
Gross floor area: 1.353 m2
Project estimate: ca.1.200.000,00 Euro
Photographer: b+ (Photo BEFORE)
Photographer: Erica Overmeer
Erica Overmeer
Eemsstraat 3HS
NL–1079 TB Amsterdam
