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Architects: HHF Architects
- Year: 2010
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Photographs:Iwan Baan
Text description provided by the architects. In response to the large demand of the fashion industry for showroom space, the client conducted an external expert evaluation with an international architectural competition in the spring of 2007 for a new building Labels Berlin 2. In September 2007 the expert commission awarded first prize to the design by HHF Architects.
The new center for fashion, Labels Berlin 2, was conceived to provide showroom space for approximately thirty different international fashion labels. A large event area and small restaurant are located on the ground floor. The design concept responds to the architecture of the adjacent building. The interior spaces of this historical building are strongly characterized by the repetition of arched windows used in the façade. This motif became one of the starting points for the design of the project.
After the break you will find more photographs of Labels Berlin 2, along with a more detailed description about the design.
Apart from large trade fair exhibitions fashion firms take pride and pleasure in inviting their professional clients to small and personal presentations of the latest collection in so-called “showrooms”. Up to twelve times a year new creations are presented in such locations. The foundation for a truly prominent and exciting fashion headquarters on the Spree Riverfront was laid in 2006 by the establishment of Labels Berlin 1, accomplished through the renovation and reconstruction of a former warehouse.
The use of two differently cut sine curves generates a specific aesthetic for both the supporting structure and in a modified form with the sine waves for the façade. The result is that the structure and rhythm establish the formative motif for the perception of the new building and link it to the existing neighborhood.
The load-bearing structure of this new building, Labels Berlin 2, is constructed in exposed concrete. The system consists of supporting panels perforated by sinus curves that are positioned at intervals and establish the supporting structure around the entire façade. This solution gives renters a very high degree of flexibility in subdividing and developing their own interior space – at the same time the load-bearing structure establishes an overriding spatial and iconographic element throughout the entire building. On the ground floor the width of the span of the supporting structure is greatly extended locally making it possible to create a space for events that is as free of columns as possible.
The pre-fabricated, painted-green concrete elements, which curtain the thermal façade and fan out towards the bottom, shade the underlying glazing and create an in between space that accommodates the exterior sunscreens, lighting fixtures, security cameras and other elements. The plumbing pipes are embedded in the exposed concrete. As thermo-active building components or system (TABS) the pipes serve to cool and heat the entire load-bearing structure and thereby make it possible to considerably save on energy consumption.
Connected by a heat exchanging device, the whole concrete structure of the building is permeated with water tubes and used as a radiator for heating as well as for cooling. The energy consumption for heating and cooling of Labels 2 Berlin is reduced by 40% due to this combined technique of activating the building mass and using water from the Spree River.
