The complex designed by Sauerbruch Hutton consists of two volumes of varying heights. Its layout integrates offices, meeting rooms, and spaces for official receptions, fostering functional efficiency and interaction between staff and visitors. Furthermore, the design allows for potential future institutional use.
The structure combines timber and reinforced concrete, featuring office and restroom modules that were prefabricated and assembled on-site. The upper level incorporates lightweight timber elements to span greater distances, while the interiors alternate between exposed wood and colored wall finishes. Externally, the facades combine glazed ceramic elements with colored balustrade rods.
Office Building for Federal Authorities at the Spreebogen by Sauerbruch Hutton. Photograph by Jan Bitter.
Project description by Sauerbruch Hutton
Since July, the Federal President's standard has been flying above his temporary, official Seat. Frank-Walter Steinmeier has moved from Schloss Bellevue into a new building on the river Spree, which will serve as the temporary seat for him and the succeeding President for the next years while both the Schloss and the Office of the Federal President undergo comprehensive refurbishment.
Designed by sauerbruch hutton, the new Office Building for Federal Authorities, of timber-hybrid construction, were planned and built in just four and a half years. Meeting the full range of protocol requirements for the head of state and his or her staff, they also provide efficient administrative workplaces. From the outset, they were conceived with their future use in mind and can later be adapted for occupation by another federal authority.
A distinct presence within the urban landscape
The new seat occupies a pivotal position in the city, lying between the district around Berlin’s main train station and the northern part of Tiergarten, with its prominent landmarks such as the Swiss Embassy, the Reichstag, the Chancellery and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt.
Comprising two volumes of differing heights, the ensemble mediates between the scale of the urban fabric along the street of Alt-Moabit and that of the neighbouring police and fire station.
A note of colour
Seen against the predominantly monochromatic, stone streetscape of its immediate surroundings, the façades of the new buildings introduce the theme of polychromy: the layering of coloured, slender balustrade bars over multi-coloured, fluted glazed ceramic elements lends the architecture an oscillating, iridescent appearance.
The resulting character gives the Office Building for Federal Authorities a distinct urban presence, while at the same time it conveys both openness and lightness in embodiment of modern democratic values.
Innovative timber construction
The buildings are conceived as timber-hybrid structures with reinforced concrete plinths and cores. Prefabricated office and sanitary modules were manufactured at a factory on the edge of Berlin and assembled on site. The uppermost level is constructed from lightweight timber elements, which enable the longer spans and taller ceiling heights that are required for the large event spaces.
Exposed timber surfaces characterise much of the interior, often set in contrast to coloured wall linings. In terms of sustainable design, in addition to a timber-based construction and adherence to circular design principles, the buildings’ services make use of renewable energy sources.
Architecture for everyday life and affairs of state
Rather than separating administration and representation into distinct areas -as they are at Schloss Bellevue and its neighbouring Office of the Federal President- the spatial organisation of the new seat brings these functions together. The close proximity of the workplaces to the rooms for state receptions supports efficient processes and creates ample opportunity for encounter and exchange: staff, visitors and state guests share the same building, uniting the everyday workings of the institution and its ceremonial role.
