Project Overview

The Eastside Mall in Friedrichshain is a foundational retail touchstone in East Berlin, located in the newly developed Deutsche Bahn areal along the river Spree. Close to the tourist hotspots of the Eastside Gallery and Mercedes-Benz Arena, this new leisure location contains three levels of retail, a food court, recreational facilities, a fitness center and substantial parking space.

Project Commissioner

FREO Financial & Real Estate Operations GmbH and Projektgesellschaft Forum Invest S..r.l.

Project Creator

UNStudio

Team

UNStudio
Ben van Berkel, Christian Veddeler with Tina Kortmann, Andreas Bogenschtz, Thomas Harms and Kirsten Hollmann-Schrter, Philipp Meise, Ka Shin Liu, Derrick Diporedjo, Jaap Baselmans, Panos Chatzitsakyris, Jesse Zweers, Marloes van Heteren, Piotr Prokopowicz, Oana Nituica, Patrik Noome, Ronno Stegeman, Pieter Meier, Bart Cilissen, Nanang Santoso, Marko Vukovic, Jan Haffner, Brett Lee, Min Zang


Advisors

Executive Architect: bdsarchitects, Hamburg
Local Architect/ Costs Design Phases: AUKETT+HEESE GmbH, Berlin
Structural Engineer: EFG Beratende Ingenieure GmbH, Fuldabrck
MEP Engineer: Aschauer+Burkhardt Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Stadtilm
Landscape Architect: capatti staubach, Berlin
Electrical Engineer: CEP Gebudetechnik GmbH, Stuttgart
Fire safety advisor: hhpberlin Ingenieure fr Brandschutz GmbH, Berlin
Building physics: vRP Ingenieurbro fr Bauphysik von Rekowski und Partner, Weinheim
Lighting design: ag Licht Gesellschaft von Ingenieuren fr Lichtplanung b.R., Bonn
Traffic Engineering: HOFFMANN-LEICHTER Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Berlin
Facade Engineering: Zentrale Technik Fachbereich Fassadentechnik Stuttgart
Project Development and Tenant Management: Fokus Development AG, Duisburg
Contractor: Ed. Zblin AG - Direktion Stuttgart/ Albstadtweg 5/ 70 567 Stuttgart
CGI visualisations: bloomimages Berlin GmbH

Project Brief

Glass, aluminum and steel plate surfaces are used for a facade that contrasts gray against colour, rough against smooth, matt against gloss, bringing a sense of contrast and diversity. The large scale volume of the building is structured through continuous meandering bands on this facade. To overcome the introspective nature of shopping centers, a large central band splits and opens up the volume, creating a rhythmic transparency that resonates with the urban environment. Above and below this meandering strip, the facade is built in slat layers akin to venetian blinds.

The motif of the band meanders inside the building, where it gives rhythm and identity to the space. Similar to the facade strips, the inner shop street connects the two main entrances in a flowing motion from east to west. The idea of a contrasting materialization is also reflected in the interior.

Project Innovation/Need

The interactions along these lines and surfaces create a moiré effect, giving the building its identity while amalgamating functional requirements. At the base area, the slats are joined to form more robust facade elements that run parallel to the horizontal structure of the building in a relief-like manner.

Again, there is a playful contrast between tactile and reflective, natural and artificial, robust and chic, which defines the design along the main shopping street and all secondary areas.