Chipperfield wins contest to design Berlin tower

David Chipperfield Architects has won a design competition for a 70m office tower in Berlin.

The practice said it was chosen unanimously against proposals from 12 other unnamed architects for the high-rise project in the city’s central Mitte district.

The 20,000sq m tower will be built at Jannowitz Bridge, a traffic junction beside a railway line, and will form a new urban ensemble along Holzmarktstrasse, together with another office building designed by Kuehn Malvezzi.

Chipperfield said: “The compact building volume is modulated in such a way that projections and recesses make distinct references to the neighbouring buildings and the adjacent urban railway. Within the tower itself, these recesses create generous terrace areas with roof gardens.

“The terrain that rises towards the riverbank of the Spree forms the starting point for a flowing transition between inside and outside, which emphasises the public character of the ground floor, creating a new lively public realm in dialogue with the immediate urban context.”