The project for a new office building with a public café and an event space for the Berlin based newspaper taz proposes a flexible, robust, and open architecture for an inner-city lot in Berlin. Located on Friedrichstraße, at the border between the districts Mitte and Kreuzberg, the new eight-story building opens through the ground floor with a cafe and the auditorium to the adjacent public park and provides direct access from the street to the editorial conference spaces and the premises of the taz cooperative. The building consists of two parallel structures, connected by the ground floor, the basement, and an external staircase that rises like a tree with generous platforms for planters in the landscaped inner courtyard. The seven editorial floors, each with a size of 400 square meters, can be freely subdivided and used flexibly. Glazed walkways directly connect all other functional rooms (from meeting rooms to restrooms) on the two split-level service floors. The building is naturally lit and ventilated on all sides and shaded by wind-proof external curtains. The combination of concrete core activation and underfloor heating makes it possible to avoid air conditioning systems. The connecting walkways serve—only in case of fire—as an external safety staircase and thus allow the absence of costly and maintenance-intensive sprinklers and pressure ventilation, as well as any other escape staircases or corridors. Read more