Fire and police station

The new station for the governmental police and fire departments is an extension to a free-standing nineteenth-century structure which was originally formed part of the Prussian customs and tax authorities' complex close to the river Spree. The solitariness of this once rather grand building is a poignant reminder of its original setting - when it was safely integrated into the typical block structure of 19C Berlin.
The single-banked rear wing of the building is used as a back-bone for the extension. This – as a luminous floating body – clings to the lower part of the expansive sheer brick wall (which being a party wall, would originally have been concealed). The space underneath the new building provides covered accommodation for the various vehicles of the police station and fire brigade, whilst the yard accommodates the necessary manoevres of the large fire engines.
As the building is set back considerably from the main road and lies approximately six metres below street level, the visitor approaches the police station across a new foot-bridge on the level of the <bel étage>. To enter such a building through its representative classical façade via a first floor window is both pragmatic solution and a gesture appropriate to the surreal quality of its circumstances.

sauerbruch hutton