The first building in Germany based on the 22·26 method is being built in Berlin-Wedding. Such a building does not require heating, mechanical ventilation or cooling. The name is derived from the feel-good temperature of 22 to 26 degrees Celsius. On the northern edge of Schillerpark, on a site where the Kornelius Church and a kindergarten are located, the Church Administration Office is planning a new building for its administration, apartments on the fourth floor and a café and seminar rooms on the first floor. As an independent building, it is set back from the street lines of the adjacent listed buildings in the English Quarter. The solitary position is supported by a slight rotation of the longitudinal axis towards the park. The building impresses with its clear order and rhythm of closed and open wall surfaces.
The client attached great importance to sustainability in the construction and operation of the house. The technical equipment is minimized. There is no need for summer cooling at all, and very limited heating is only provided on the residential floor. The exterior walls are made of solid masonry and red-colored scratch plaster, which is created using traditional craftsmanship. Narrow, floor-to-ceiling windows, hinged on the inside of the wall, lend the building a special plasticity and identity. They also ensure the greatest possible self-shading and a minimum of heat input in summer.
Three separate entrances for living, administration and café form their own addresses, with vertical access via a staircase and lifts. Solid reinforced concrete ceilings provide the storage function required for the 22·26 method, enabling an almost column-free floor plan and thus the greatest possible flexibility for the different usage requirements.
More about the Berlin office here.
Credits: © Walter Linkmann
Berlin, 4 July 2024
