We are very pleased to report that our joint competition entry for the entrance building of the Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin was awarded an Honorable Mention from the competition jury.

Our entry challenged the competition brief by demonstrating that almost the entire room programme could be allocated within the existing science museum structures rather than having to build a new building. This allowed us instead to plant a new forest on the competition site to provide an ‘ecological laboratory’ that went beyond the requirements of the brief. Our only built form was limited to two modest lightweight structures to accommodate a sheltered entrance, external classroom and cafe and a circulation structure to connect across a historic disused railway track into one of the existing buildings. Our approach allowed us to maximise the site’s biodiversity and urban greening, minimise material use and embodied carbon expenditure and create a low cost solution so that the museum’s financial resource could be spent on the upgrading of the existing buildings. 

The jury praised the progressive sustainability concept and the courage of the submission, which radically focussed on non-construction.

Collaborators:

Morris+Company, London
Haptic Architects, London
Kirchberger & Wiegner Rohde, Berlin
Landschaft planen + bauen NRW, Dortmund