Urban design, and architecture of Weissensee project-Berlin

Urban Design and Architecture of Weissensee project-Berlin is the seventh article on projects from practice. Weissensee is a quarter in the borough of Pankow in Berlin, Germany, that takes its name from the small lake Weiber See (white lake) within it.

Weissensee is one of the most peaceful and quiet districts in Berlin. The area surrounding the lake of Weissensee is characterized by historical architecture, many places of interest, city parks, lakes, and other activities¹.

This project is located on the site of the previous municipality city hall building. The project also includes the renovation and reuse of the city hall building along with new four architectural design buildings of residential use apartments. The urban design and planning include a community building and shared open courtyard and green spaces. Two services supply the site are a parking garage and a decentral power plant.

DMSW initiated an urban design and planning layout with three architectural firms that turned the concept into reality. The land is a publicly owned land purchased in 2008 for the purpose of development. This development is part of a series of developments, as illustrated in my previous article, built by housing projects. Bigger scale and complex projects with shared community spaces, and new and old buildings could be successful without any further support. See Figure 1, the site perspective of the urban design and development of this project.

The site is a 5600 m² site composed of a central area of green space, the old building, and all four buildings are grouped surrounding it. All buildings have a view of the central park, Park am WeiBensee, of an area of 21 hectares. See Figure 2 the site layout of the development, Figure 3 is the site photo of the old renovated building in the urban development.

The urban designer and planner managed to develop the area to make it car-free and to give access to the public space created, the open garden, by the building tenants and the surrounding community. The central park is connected to the landscape in the development as free walkable paths and access to other areas without any obstacles and barriers of the former high walls surrounding the site. See Figure 4, the open space connection between the buildings in the urban development project.

One of the architectural firms has developed an underground parking for building B. The development construction started in 2008 and the competition date was in 2012. The cost-of-living space including the shared community spaces is between 2000- 2300 euro/M² .

This urban design and planning project was selected due to its various compliance with sustainable development requirements, approaches, and methods. The historical context of this site gives it the priority for urban development and that is one of the main purposes of sustainable development. Building of high heritage, and cultural value must be renovated and kept to give the area its continuous local character and value.

Removing physical barriers from the area redesigning it without any physical obstacles and giving access physically and visually returns its livability and use by the community and surrounding areas strengthening the community ties and increasing social connectivity.

The urban designer and planner located a green area, a central landscape open zone, which has various functions. The priority is the central view of all buildings towards it, Air ventilation is another important factor not only for heating or cooling but for plants, access to sun and light to the buildings of the development and the greenery is as well another important feature, green space has its role in solving many environmental issues of reducing atmosphere heat and increasing oxygen in the air.

Decreasing urban density also is one of the most important requirements of sustainable development, decreasing the amount of automobile use, decreasing the amount of car parks, and making the development walkable and friendly for people to move in is an achievement towards sustainability.