The area around the competition site contains many of Berlin’s most significant historical buildings; the urban layout of an old (better) Berlin will thus be reconstructed. What is the appropriate way to deal with the task of designing new office building in this context? Can we create a building that surpasses this desire for the past? What type of architecture pays tribute to the district with the necessary respect, and yet remains recognizable as a contemporary building that is designed without historical ‘quoting’ or postmodern irony?

Thirdly, the windows of the facades vary slightly according to light and views, sometimes reaching floor or ceiling level while remaining homogeneous in appearance across the façade. Fourth, the facades are lightly decorated with a layer of thin, coloured plaster in the form of dots, which differentiate the classical tripartite division of ground and first floor plinth, middle floors, and top floor. Finally, the courtyard of the building reflects the typological standard of Berlin’s blocks, while being filled with flowering plants which offer contrast to the classically austere building. These five conceptual elements ground the building in its context, while forming a thesis for a contemporary take on the architecture of Berlin.