Timber as a technology showcase
A new entrance building has been designed for the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin. With its striking lattice roof, the design by Austrian architectural firm Innauer Matt demonstrates that modern timber construction is a byword for progress through sustainability.
When the Anhalter railway station in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district opened back in 1880, its impressive structure was a gateway to the world. From here, trains travelled to the duchy of Anhalt, and later to Rome, Athens and the Bosporus. It was also the city’s largest transshipment centre. Everything from milk and meat to steel and parcels sent by post came to Berlin via the “Anhalter”. Many of its buildings were destroyed in the Second World War and, like so many railway stations from the pioneering days of the Industrial Revolution, its importance ultimately dwindled in recent decades. In 1983, the Deutsches Technikmuseum (German Museum of Technology) moved into part of the depot, while the affiliated Science Center Spectrum opened in the building at the station’s eastern end. These two structures have always been separated by a gap – one that local real estate company BIM now aims to close.
And so it launched a Europe-wide architectural competition in the search for a design. The brief was for 2,500 square metres of floor space that would provide the required extra room and link the two separate museum buildings. As well as this, it needed to have a distinctive and memorable architectural design that complements the historic structures from a visual, functional and commercial perspective. The submission by Innauer Matt Architekten, from the Austrian municipality of Bezau, won over the panel of judges with a sizeable majority.
In step with the times
The winning design is a timber construction with a strikingly high truncated roof, its lattice structure exposed at the projecting gable ends. The warm wood on the inside of the roof looks thoroughly inviting – when viewed from outside, the interior already promises cosiness and conviviality. This is further underlined by the dark, rhombic shingles that consist entirely of photovoltaic “scales”.
With the traditional timber construction and high-tech nature of its energy-efficient envelope, the structure will be an impressive marriage of past and future. Even at first glance, it is evident that the building is highly sustainable – and that the Technikmuseum is very much in step with the times. As well as its climate-friendly operation, the modern timber construction keeps carbon emissions to a minimum.
All under one roof
With its eye-catching design, the building certainly has what it takes to become the museum’s new visual calling card. The panel of experts likened its shape to that of a tall hat, while the folded-up canopies on the long sides are a nod to the historical warehouses in the direct vicinity.
An unexpected structure slots in between the late 19th-century building that houses the Spectrum and the main postmodernist building from 2001.
Panel of judges chaired by Jórunn Ragnarsdóttir
While a number of submissions proposed a conspicuous cross-link between the two existing buildings, the architects at Innauer Matt took a different approach. As the judges put it: “An unexpected structure slots in between the late 19th-century building that houses the Spectrum and the main postmodernist building from 2001.” And they continued: “This clearly succeeds in creating an inviting new entrance for the Deutsches Technikmuseum.”
Subtle link with added value
The two museum buildings are joined via a pair of narrow bridges at the sides, which are very low-key in this context. At the same time, the glazed recesses create new visual references on the former station grounds. The transparent ground floor of the new reception building can be accessed on all sides, resolutely forgoing the notion of front and back and – in the words of the judges – “activating the surrounding open spaces to marvellous effect”.
Spectacular timber museum buildings are currently in vogue. For instance, a double-curved gridshell construction was used for the extension of the Wisdome technical museum in Stockholm. And the forthcoming addition to Oslo’s Frammuseum will feature a curved lattice roof.
The new entrance building for the Deutsches Technikmuseum is further proof that timber construction has finally shed its rather rustic image and is now very much a forward-looking form of architectural design. It is a byword for progress through sustainability.
Text: Gertraud Gerst
Translation: Rosemary Bridger-Lippe
Visualization: Anna Gassner, Innauer Matt Architekten