The former central flower market is situated in the historic Südliche Friedrichstadt in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. At the time of planning, the site’s attractive and central location near Friedrichstrasse suggested that the mix of uses in the area, which included inexpensive housing, was at risk. The intention was to redress this trend, notwithstanding the current need for development, by launching a concept-linked award procedure for the central flower market site. An innovative multi-stage qualification process was developed in collaboration with the local authorities, local stakeholders and independent experts, whose aim was to support the ongoing project and assure the quality of architecture and urban development. The main idea for the project, which was initiated by the architects ifau and Heide & von Beckerath in cooperation with the Selbstbaugenossenschaft Berlin eG, is to offer a mix of live and work units that meets the needs of artists and creative professionals, among others. Moreover, the comparatively low land price allowed the cross-subsidisation of cooperative residential and studio spaces within the project, which can be let at a sustainable rent. The owners and representatives of the cooperative have jointly developed the project’s social and spatial focus. The floor plans for the 66 apartments were designed and detailed in cooperation with the future residents. The 17 studios and three commercial units are conceived as blanks so that the standard of fittings will meet the different needs of the individual occupants. The decision-making process determining the type and position of communal facilities and the development of a binding standard for fittings took place in close collaboration with the building group.

Completed
2012-2018

The Baugruppe model is attractive in the context of rising rents in the central areas of the city and the development of new, experimental housing types. In the case of the IBeB the development objective for the plot was to establish a diverse and mixed pattern of use for a wide spectrum of residents. Owner-occupied artists’ studios and apartments, cooperative housing and studios, space provision for social associations and commerce were part of the programme for the establishment of the new building group and hence lay the foundation for the IBeB. In the architectural concept the public and semi-public interfaces with the neighbourhood are given specific attention. The central rue intérieure serves as a meeting place where neighbourly relationships can be forged. All ground floor spaces are transparent and can be extended into the adjacent public areas. The learnings from the IBeB have largely been discussed and shared with other professionals, within civil society and academia.