Europacity Berlin
Europacity Berlin

This design for Europacity is one for the 21st century. Prof. Carl Fingerhut, member of the jury for the 2008 competition

Europacity Berlin

CLIENT
CA IMMO Deutschland

COMPLETION
2025

SIZE
520.000 sqm GFA

COLLABORATION
Land Berlin
Deutsche Bahn AG

PHOTOCREDITS
ASTOC / CA IMMO (1)
ASTOC (2)

Just a few minutes’ walk from the German Reichstag, the Spreebogen was an important part of the Berlin wall from 1961 to 1989. The opening of the main station in 2006 represented a decisive boost for the restructuring of the no-man’s land between Invalidenstraße, Perleberger Brücke, Fernbahntrasse and Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal. In collaboration with Urban Catalyst Studio and ARGUS Urban and Transport Planning, ASTOC won the international competition for one of the last areas of the former section of the wall in 2008. In the crosshairs between the government district, the main station and the Hamburger Bahnhof museum, a major urban quarter is being created with an art campus, restaurants, apartments, offices and public spaces. With ASTOC’s understanding of urban planning, the design picks up on the European nature of the urban structure and uses this stable foundation to expand on it with nuanced moods in different districts.

Characteristics such as its location by the water and historical traces are included in the master plan to define the cityscape. Old logistics warehouses such as the corn testing warehouse will be converted to galleries and remind visitors of the eventful history of the site. The undeveloped bank of the river will be redesigned to become a public promenade. Major city edifices offering office use hold their own at Hamburger Bahnhof and Nordhafen against an environment dominated by the traffic. Commercial buildings along the line of the tracks shield the residential complexes from the traffic noise. The spectrum of open spaces ranges from stone surroundings at the Art Campus, green inner courtyards in the residential quarters to the public park to the north. The multi-faceted interplay between developed and open spaces enriches the transformation of the former no-man’s land into a thriving district only a few steps from one of Europe’s most important traffic intersections.

Europacity Berlin