HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung has concluded a long-term (20-year) lease with the social arm of the Protestant Church in Germany (Evangelisches Werk) and the Protestant Church Development Service (EED) for 20,000 square meters of usable space in a new office building in Berlin-Mitte. This is the biggest single lease agreement that was concluded in Berlin in 2010 for a new project development. The two clerical organizations will merge in 2012 to become the Evangelisches Werk für Entwicklung und Diakonie, and will move into the new premises in October 2012.
Construction will start on the seven-story building, which has a gross floor area of around 23,000 square meters, in early 2011 on the corner lot of Caroline-Michaelis-Strasse and Invalidenstrasse, a central location in Berlin-Mitte. Apart from office space for approximately 700 employees, there will also be conference rooms, a chapel and a corporate restaurant. A public café and retail outlets will also be installed on the ground floor. The in-house underground car park will have 51 parking slots. The entire building is designed to be disabled-friendly and barrier-free. A sustainable energy concept has been devised to ensure energy efficient operation: The main elements here are the use of district heating, effective heat recovery, the use of a special cooling machine, and thermoactive ceilings for heating and cooling. This means that the building’s annual primary energy needs will be less than 70 kilowatt hours per square meter. The new building is being designed to meet the criteria for obtaining the Gold certificate of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (German Council for Sustainable Building).