A Laska, Berlin, Germany

A Laska, Berlin, Germany

© GRAFT GmbH

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HOW DOES THIS PROJECT REPRESENT A CHANGE IN THE BUILDING INDUSTRY?

GRAFT

The project A Laska is defined by the combination of an efficient modular timber construction with the concept of a highly eccentric and exciting façade consisting of repetitive modular bay extensions. It is our firm belief that advanced construction technology can lead to buildings with a strong architectural expression. With A Laska we show how prefabrication can become the key to customized buildings in the future. The adaptation of the similar concept to two different places at the same time is the proof of the idea of adaptable modular thinking. At the same time, the two individual buildings form an urban context and a characteristic façade logic based on the extensive heritage of bay extensions in Berlin’s historical building tradition.

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WHAT MAKES THIS PROJEKT "GERMAN"?

GRAFT

With A Laska we are reviving the tradition of hybrid wooden construction, which plays a major role in the history of building technology in Germany. Step by step we will attempt to take the knowledge of prefabrication and modular production from car manufacturing and apply it to buildings.

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IS THERE A SPECIAL STORY?

GRAFT

With A Laska we develop the idea of “inhabitable façades” further based on observations from other new work environments we had built in previous years. A series of bay windows not only allows future office employees to use spatial pockets along the façade for informal meetings or as break out zones, it also rejuvenates the great tradition of bay windows used to form and structure the façade seen from the outside.

A Laska, Berlin, Germany

© GRAFT GmbH

In direct vicinity of Berlin's Ostkreuz, an office twin consisting of two buildings is being built north of the Spree and west of the Rummelsburger Bucht. In this exciting environment of an established Berlin club culture, GRAFT is planning innovative building figures on behalf of Trockland, which will enable new forms of working. The facades of the buildings are characterized by serially arranged bay windows. At the building corners, these are interlocked with each other, similar to traditional wooden joints.

A Laska, Berlin, Germany

© Trockland Management GmbH

"An essential part of the building design is to respond to the very green context of the surroundings and not only to green the ground-level outdoor space, but also to design the atrium in the basement and the roof around the roof terrace in a garden-like manner. The small-scale structures of the neighboring buildings on site is taken up by box-like elements on the first floor, on which the upper floors rest visually as volumes. Thus, a perceptually tending open landscape is created on the first floor."

— Graft

Both structures are being built as timber hybrid constructions over a basement or base level in reinforced concrete. Visible wood surfaces also characterize the interiors, which extend into the urban space via the numerous bay windows. In many places, this creates the opportunity to step out of the open office space and even out of the façade to make phone calls or video conferences, to hold short meetings or to relax. The bay windows are an enriching component in the space offered in the otherwise very flexibly subdividable office areas.

A Laska, Berlin, Germany

© Trockland Management GmbH

A Laska, Berlin, Germany

© Graft GmbH

The infrastructure of the buildings is rounded off by catering facilities, spacious foyers and sunken courtyards, through which the basement floors are lit. Roof terraces on both buildings complement the working worlds with flexible usage scenarios. At this location, which is valued for its proximity to a wide range of leisure and cultural activities, the vision of a green, lively neighborhood is being created in which people enjoy working and living.

A Laska, Berlin, Germany

© GRAFT GmbH

A Laska, Berlin, Germany

© GRAFT GmbH

A Laska, Berlin, Germany

© GRAFT GmbH

A Laska, Berlin, Germany

© GRAFT GmbH

In addition, the appearance of the building on the upper floors is characterized by bay windows that derive or develop from the interior space: they create an extension of the office floors as meeting, retreat and recreation spaces located on the periphery of the building and thus give a completely new quality to the office landscapes to be created.

— Graft
Project type

New Work / Office / New Building / Wood hybrid construction

Client

Trockland Management GmbH

Architects

GRAFT Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH

Planning experts

Structural and Façade planning:
Knippers Helbig, Berlin/ Stuttgart

Technical planning:
WINTER Ingenieure, Berlin

Landscape architect:
Büro Haan Frei Landschaftsarchitekten, Berlin

Building physics:
Ingenieurbüro Axel C. Rahn GmbH, Berlin

LEED coordination:
ibak ingenieurbüro Anke Koch GmbH, Hamburg

Certifcates

LEED Platinum certification is being pursued

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