Developing an architecture appropriate to the highest office of state is no everyday task – all the more so when it should occupy a prominent position in the centre of the capital alongside some of its defining government buildings, when it must be realised within a short planning and construction period using innovative methods of production, and, lastly, when it must be adaptable for subsequent long-term use by another federal authority. Rather than prompting a makeshift solution, the project’s interim use became the point of departure for an architecture that reconsiders the idea of permanence: not as immutability, but as the capacity to gracefully adapt to changing requirements and future uses.

The temporary quarters for the Office of the Federal President extend Berlin's government district with a pair of timber-hybrid buildings that are largely prefabricated. During the refurbishment of Schloss Bellevue, they serve as both the Seat and the Office of the Federal President. Responding to highly specific functional and security requirements, as well as to that of a resource-conscious, circular approach to construction, they also provide an architecture that is both elegant and fit for the head of state and his or her guests.

A distinct presence within the ensemble

Within the sweep of this particular bend in the river Spree, the new buildings lie between the district surrounding Berlin’s main train station and the landscape of northern Tiergarten, with its prominent buildings such as the Reichstag, the Federal Chancellery, the Swiss Embassy and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. At this particular threshold, the new buildings assume a mediating role; in refiguring the perimeter of the historic block into a pair of rounded volumes, the result is legible as both an urban edge and as freestanding figures.

The elongated main building follows the line of the street and, together with the development opposite, frames the view along Alt-Moabit towards the government district. At the street junction, this volume bends slightly to define the forecourt for ceremonial welcome. The lower ancillary building, meanwhile, mediates towards the neighbouring police and fire station on Elisabeth Abegg Street. The space between the main and the smaller volume defines the principal entrance.

Material and presence

Seen against the restrained stone elevations of the surrounding office buildings with their repetitive, narrow windows, the polychromatic façade of the new seat assumes particular significance. This is of even more consequence because, access being restricted to a limited circle of users, its external appearance plays a central role in shaping its public image.

Without resorting to grand gestures, the architecture establishes an umistakable identity of its own. The modular logic of its construction recedes behind the coloured cloak of its façade. This comprises fluted, glazed ceramic elements that are overlaid with continuous bands of railings: both of these are treated in various hues with differentiated, overlapping rhythms. The result is a robust pair of buildings with a distinct sense of vitality, elegance and permanence.

Along its northern side, the main building stretches along the street called Alt-Moabit. To the west and south, the garden courtyard is enclosed by a tall fence of round steel bars. Peeling away from the building like a zip so as to encircle the site as an independent element, the fence then reconnects with the building again. Its metal bars seem to press into the ceramic elements, as if it is their imprint that forms the ceramics’ characteristic wave-like profile. On the upper floors, the motif of the fence returns with the spandrel panels. The superimposition of the various rhythms of its filigree, coloured bars over the undulating ceramic surfaces creates a lively pattern of shifting colour fields which, depending on the viewing angle, emphasises either the horizontal or the vertical.

The application of colour follows no fixed pattern, but instead draws on a graduated palette distributed across the pair of building volumes. Together with the relief of the ceramic and variations in light and atmosphere, an appearance is created that shifts with the position of the viewer- from Alt-Moabit to the Chancellery - without there being a single privileged viewpoint. The façade looks different also according to the light, from backlit to the midday sun; and similarly, according to the seasons, from spring to winter.

A building for everyday life and affairs of state

The light-filled, pavilion-like foyer forming the entrance, situated between the two volumes, offers both workers and visitors an atmospheric view into the garden courtyard with its mature trees. Facing the street are the official drop-off point and the official entrance sheltered by a canopy. Flagpoles mark the location of the ceremonies for state receptions, while the textile canopy provides protection from both the weather and the public gaze.

From here, an adjoining entrance area leads across a red carpet to a cloakroom and a reception room in the form of a rotunda, where appointed visitors sign the Federal President's official guest book. Following the reception ceremony, guests are taken by lift to state rooms on the fifth or sixth floor, depending on the occasion.

Alongside these spaces for state guests, there is a cafeteria on the ground floor, where, together with a terrace overlooking the garden, it provides staff with an informal place for everyday meeting and exchange. Large areas of glazing establish a two-way visual connection with the street of Alt-Moabit, creating a sense of spatial permeability and civic openness despite the building’s stringent security requirements.

Directly above the plinth are five office floors organised in a ‘looped’ formation. Offices and meeting rooms formed from prefabricated timber modules are arranged around a compact central zone containing circulation cores, sanitary facilities and building services. Openings within this zone create shorter routes as well as visual connections between the northern and southern corridors.

Rather than separating the rooms for administration and those for affairs of state into distinct areas, the spatial organisation brings these functions together within a shared architectural structure. Their close interweaving supports efficient processes while, more importantly, creating opportunities for encounter and exchange. In this way, rooms for staff, visitors and those for formal occasions remain part of the same overall architectural order without compromising the, at times opposing, requirements for openness, security and confidentiality.

In keeping with its representative role, the building contains several event spaces together with the associated catering facilities. Used for press conferences, state receptions and cultural events, these are located predominantly on the uppermost floor. The larger event hall opens out views towards both sides of the building, making the contrast between the dense urban fabric of Moabit and the open landscape of the Tiergarten directly perceptible. The smaller hall faces the River Spree; its semi-circular sweep of windows draws the panorama of the entire government district into the interior. Three-dimensional textile ceilings span both halls, lending them a light, uplifting character. The atmospheres of the halls, together with their generous lobbies, are further distinguished by their strong, particular hues, which can also be seen in enfilade.

The layered arrangement of uses creates natural spatial sequences, leading from arrival through the administrative levels to the more sheltered spaces reserved for official events.

Hybrid construction for adaptable spaces

The choice of a modularised, element-based timber-hybrid construction reflects an ambition to address construction processes, resource efficiency and long-term flexibility of use in equal measure.

Extensive prefabrication allowed construction to proceed simultaneously in two locations: while the basement, ground floor and circulation cores were built on site, the room modules were manufactured in a nearby factory. This not only shortened the construction period; the controlled conditions of factory production also increased precision while reducing material consumption and construction-related emissions compared with conventional on-site construction.

The hybrid construction is not an end in itself. Rather, each structural system is employed where its particular constructional and spatial qualities are most effective: reinforced concrete for below-grade and heavily loaded areas, timber-frame construction for the large spans of the event halls on the uppermost floor, and prefabricated timber modules for the flexibly organised office levels. In this way, the construction develops directly from the differing requirements of use, structure and construction process.

Based on a standard module, individual offices can be combined to form larger workspaces or meeting rooms. Spaces can also be joined or subdivided at a later stage without affecting the primary structure – this offers a degree of adaptability that extends well beyond the building’s current use.