Glass sculpture with brain
From the outside, the cube-shaped building looks like an abstract, modern sculpture. The folded glass façade reflects the surroundings like a kaleidoscope.
With the cube berlin office building, completed after three years of construction, the growing Europacity directly on Washingtonplatz at Berlin's main railway station has gained another spectacular architectural highlight and the whole of Berlin a new icon. The cube-shaped building, designed by the renowned Copenhagen office 3XN, looks like an abstract, modern sculpture from the outside. The folded glass façade reflects the surroundings like a kaleidoscope. Depending on the incidence of light, the appearance of the building changes constantly. Dynamic incisions in the façade create terraces for the tenants on the ten upper floors. The incisions run along the entire side of the building, with the direction of the sky changing from floor to floor. The roof terrace, which is also sculpturally designed, offers additional usage options and provides views across the whole of Berlin. While the ten upper floors and the roof terrace are reserved exclusively for office tenants, a publicly accessible marketplace with a variety of gastronomic offerings is to be created on a large part of the first floor.
The cube berlin has been developed as a "smart commercial building". The aim of this prototype development was to make the operation of the building more efficient through the use of networked, digital technology while also offering tenants additional services. The central control element is the tenant's own smartphone: all functions relevant to the tenants can be operated via a specially developed building app. The special feature lies in the networking of the individual components in a central system - the so-called Brain. This is a self-learning system that evaluates the diverse data supplied by sensors. The sensors collect information from the environment as well as from the tenants' behavior and habits. For example, keyless and contactless access to the building is provided via the app. The system recognizes the tenant as soon as they approach and automatically opens the door for them.
Photos:
Adam Mørk and Andreas Muhs for CA Immo
(Published in CUBE Berlin 01|20)
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