Located at the southern end of Berlin's Tempelhof Airport, the BUFA campus (Berliner Union Film Ateliers) has been a key part of Berlin's film and television industry since its first buildings were built over a century ago. Now, BUFA is expanding its user base beyond filmmakers to encompass all forms of production. «change makers», including organizations and individuals with a focus on climate activism and social justice, catalyzed by a sustainable transformation of its physical spaces to become the “Atelier Gardens” campus.

A building from the 90s

The transformation of this old office building, renamed HAUS1, has given the campus a striking new entrance in a colorful bright yellow, that can be seen from afar with its ladder exterior that looks like a sculpture. During the planning process, Fabrix, the London-based project promoter, MVRDV Architecture (Rotterdam) and Hirschmüller Schindele Architekten (Berlin) followed a rigorous sustainability mapping, This is why the vast majority of the elements of this old office building from the late 1960s were preserved and redesigned. nineties.

Atelier Gardens Campus Entrance Gate

Originally built in 1997, this office building added little to the character of the campus. Given its location next to the entrance to Atelier Gardens, as well as its height, which makes it visible from the former Tempelhof airfield, the decision was made to make the building an iconic presence on the neighbouring Oberlandstraße and an iconic symbol of the city. transformation from the BUFA campus.

A new one was added to the old building vegetation cover, a sustainable wooden pavilion and a terrace accessed through a large outside staircase.

“The newly transformed HAUS1 is more than just a gateway to this unique campus dedicated to impact,” says Jacob van Rijs, Founding Partner of MVRDV. “It is a representation of the community of Atelier Gardens and its commitment to charting a different vision of society, optimistic, radical and innovative. With this project, we join their master plan and invite more people to follow us.

Yellow, the emblematic color

The most obvious sign of this change is the color of the building, qIt used to be white, and now it's sunshine yellow all around, drawing attention to the campus from near and far. The color yellow, invigorating, energetic and vitamin-rich, is the absolute emblem of the building.

Sculptural Stairs

Once visitors enter the campus, they are immediately met with another clear sign: from the central plaza of the Atelier Gardens, a swarm of eyellow zigzag stairs, dotted with seating and viewing platforms overlooking the airport and the skyline from Berlin, lead directly to the roof of HAUS 1.

Ecological systems and materials

Here you will find the extension of the building with a pavilion prefabricated modules of laminated wood, in which they have been used Eco-friendly materials and healthy finishes, like a clay roof. A roof of native plants completes the new accessible rooftop, which now also serves to collect rainwater, feeding a comprehensive plan of Water retention implemented in situ.

Glazing

This landscaping, the new roof insulation and the sunshades of the two glass facades of the building reduce heat in summer, improving the climatic resistance of the building, while the calefacción Low-temperature underfloor heating moderates the indoor climate in the cold months.

Energy efficiency and resource saving

All lighting has been replaced by low consumption LED systems and health They are water-efficient, including low-flow toilets that are already set up to flush with recycled rainwater from the campus's rainwater harvesting system, which will be installed in the next phase of campus development.

Flexible spaces

Inside, HAUS 1 houses work and meeting spaces in its four floors, including the Atelier Gardens headquarters and a café. Floor plans have been modified to maximize the flexibility of the building, simplifying future changes in use or distribution and thus prolonging its useful life.

Enclosures

The new roof floor has created a high-quality space. From there, the spectacular view extends across the Tempelhofer Feld. The panoramic view is also preserved inside the new roof pavilion, with a large glass front of sliding doors.

In the enclosures, it was sought that the profiles were as invisible as possible when closed and disappeared completely when open.

Sliding doors

For the doors, two models of opening, which create a seamless transition between the inside and outside: In the first variant, the two zero-sliding outer elements are fixed on a three-rail floor track in front of the two central window panels; in the second variant, the two central elements are fixed in front of each of the two external sliding windows to achieve the full opening width.

Connection with the outside

In addition to the rooftop pavilion, the interior design concept of the ground floor stands out for its impressive connection with the outside. The system folding doors creates three seamless transitions into the heart of the campus: the garden. The doors open up the cafeteria with two sets of three and one set of six consecutive elements along 2,80 m and 4,20 m respectively. This system allows you to connect as many elements in a row as you wish, while retaining their function of door, which means it can be opened without multiple glass bundles.

Minimum ecological impact

HAUS 1 comes to demonstrate how the transformations and restorations of buildings in disuse produce a minimum ecological impact, since in its reform the greatest possible part of the structure is reused and preference is given to Durable and recyclable materials with a low carbon footprint, should new material be needed.

Photos: Schnepp Renou / Lukas Drobny