New office complex on the River Spree in Berlin-Kreuzberg

PORR has built an office complex on the River Spree in Berlin, comprising six seven-storey building elements extending from a multi-level glass foyer. PORR was the general contractor for several of the construction stages, beginning with the shell and core (including façade), through the basement level and outdoor areas to tenant outfitting. The project was successfully concluded in an impressively short period, thanks to excellent collaboration between the PORR teams – pde Integrale Planung GmbH was the general planner.

BIM and LEAN methods save time and money

Tradition meets modernity: although the building design is reminiscent of the former warehouse, or “Speicher”, the latest technology has been used for the design, construction, and operation of the new complex: 3D modelling, model presentations, right through to the use of 3D data for the building services.

Building Information Modelling, or BIM, is a fast, efficient tool for outlining and clarifying interfaces and open items. LEAN Design for the planning and LEAN Construction methods ensured short communication paths and swift information exchange between planning and execution.

Shoulder-to-shoulder at every level, from planning to realisation

The mixed use, with services and eateries on the ground floor and prime office space on the upper floors, created demanding requirements for the building technology. The team coordinated closely with the future tenants in order to integrate their requirements from the planning stage. 

For example, during execution planning, the team had to reconcile requirements for sufficient building service shafts, the provision of assembly points on the ground floor, and the resulting larger sprinkler system.  All these requirements were resolved efficiently. Another PORR company, H+E Haustechnik und Elektro GmbH, was involved in the project as part of the building technology team.

This great collaboration between our Group partners made it possible to complete the tenant outfitting in record time: it took just one year from planning to key handover.

Challenge: Building on the water

The watery location on the bank of the River Spree came with its own challenges: comprehensive dewatering was essential in the construction pit. Around 400,000m³ of water were pumped off the site and back into the River Spree. The basement level then had to be built in the construction pit as quickly as possible, to keep the dewatering time down. There was even a professional diver at work: clad in his drysuit, he leapt boldly into the Spree to burn off the sheet-pile wall, install barriers for the inflow structure, and create the façade connections under water.

The clinker brick façade was built by hand from 800,000 clinker bricks. Parts of the scaffolding for this had to be built protruding over the water, while other parts were suspended along the adjacent building.

The project was realised in cooperation with pde, our partner for planning, sustainability, BIM and Lean.