Fliegersiedlung

In the 1920s, the garden city of Neu-Tempelhof was built outside the city limits of Berlin according to plans by Fritz Bräuning. Various types of terraced and semi-detached houses are arranged along symmetrical streets to form an urban ensemble. In between, there are smaller squares and green spaces, as well as idyllic gardens at the rear.
Today, the settlement is located in the middle of Berlin's city center, next to Tempelhofer Freiheit park. Following the closure of the former airport, the so-called “Fliegersiedlung” (airmen's settlement) has become a highly attractive place to live, especially for families. In the course of generational change, the urban structure has been largely preserved, although the houses themselves have been repeatedly extended and much has been changed.
The current construction tasks are as varied as the houses and residents themselves. Sensitive interventions in the structure allow for extensions, conversions, and energy-efficient renovations, depending on the requirements of use. Since 2009, our office has individually renovated almost 30 buildings in this way.
Our strategy is to adapt the buildings on the street side to the historical model and to create as many openings as possible on the garden side. The choice of materials is based on the criteria of sustainable construction. Healthy building materials such as wood, clay, and hemp are used for insulation and interior finishing.
The necessary replacement of fossil fuel heating systems is being carried out with heat pumps, in some cases using geothermal energy.