Futurium

The Futurium is a building for exhibitions and events in the heart of Berlin – embedded between the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (ministry for education and research), the Spreebogen (Spree Riverbend) and the Humboldthafen (Humboldt port), the main station and the Charité Hospital.

The Haus der Zukunft (house of the future) creates its own sculptural identity in this ensemble. On the two main sides of the building, the Alexanderufer and the Kapelle-Ufer, two public spaces are defined by setting back the building.

Folding the building up to create urban high points makes the Futurium a striking appearance between the Spree River and the elevated railway. The Futurium was conceived as a low-energy building and achieved the BNB-Gold sustainability rating

Exterior Spaces

The exterior space around the Futurium is organized by two large forecourts, where the main entrances are located. The entrances have cantilevering canopies of up to 18 meters generating sheltered public spaces.

A pattern of dots covers the entire public space and lends it its own identity. Following the logic and design of the pattern seating areas, paths and quiet zones are playfully arranged.

The open terrace of the event area is located amidst shady rows of trees along the passageway to the Charité.

Façade

The façade is made up of more than 8000 panels. The 70x70cm large elements consist of varyingly folded metal reflectors and textured glass with a ceramic print. Under the constantly shifting lighting conditions they generate an ever-changing cloud image.

Picture Window

Two large windows with the dimensions of 8 x 28 m on the south and 11 x 28 m on the north offer spectacular views and bring the presented future-spaces into close contact with the present cityscape.

Foyer

The foyer on the ground floor connects the main entrances as well as all of the essential routes and functions of the building. It acts as a meeting point and space for communication.

This is where visitors can find all the important services, such as the cloakroom, restrooms, central information, café and shop.

Forum for Events

The ground floor event spaces can be configured into spaces ranging from 50 to 670 m2 with mobile walls and intelligent building services. Daylight, light-colored and acoustically active surfaces, numerous projectors and a barrier-free design all together create a suitable surrounding for the dialog on the world of tomorrow.

Futurium Lab

The exhibition space on the lower level is staged as a subterranean laboratory with an area of 600 m2 where visitors can experience the excitement of futurology hands on. Dark-colored exposed concrete, black asphalt floors and a ceiling grid made of 126 fluorescent screens lend this 6 m high space below the Spree River’s water-level an extraordinary atmosphere.

Exhibition on the Upper Level

The exhibition space on the upper level is reached by means of the central stairway or the visitor elevators. This area is conceived as one continuous space of approximately 3000 m2. The exhibition will be divided into three large zones of thought that speculate on our future relationship to technology, to nature and to ourselves.

Galleries

The galleries are column-free communication levels that are suspended from the roof structure. Due to their elevated position and the large glazing to either side, they offer fantastic views of the exhibition spaces as well as of the exterior.

Roof as Rain-Collector

The roof’s slanted surfaces direct the water to its lowest point where it is drained and collected in a cistern. Subsequently it is used for cooling the building and watering the green areas.

Solar Sea

Almost the entire roof is covered with photovoltaics (for electricity) or solar panels (for thermal energy). They use the sun’s sustainable energy to cover the building’s demand to a maximum.

Skywalk

The publicly accessible skywalk circles the entire roof and can be reached on foot or by elevator. It offers visitors spectacular views of Berlin’s skyline from the Reichstag’s cupola to the television tower at the Alexanderplatz. The Bundeskanzleramt (federal chancellery) and the Spreebogen are visible to the south. The Charité and Berlin’s main station can be seen north of the Futurium.

Energy Storage

In order to make use of the sun’s thermal energy and the in-house energy gains for running the building a novel hybrid energy storage was employed. It combines the latent phase-changing material paraffin and the sensitive storage medium water through its patented macro-encapsulation and can thus achieve an eight times higher capacity as conventional water tanks.

A Masterpiece of Sustainable Construction

The golden pinnacle – the Futurium Centre in Berlin has been awarded the highest ever score for BNB Sustainability Certification.

The freshly-inaugurated Futurium building in the Spreebogen district of Berlin features groundbreaking architecture and innovative levels of sustainability. During certification for sustainable construction according to the German BNB system, the building achieved the highest score ever awarded and the best possible rating for material ecology. WSGreenTechnologies, a Werner Sobek Group company, was on board the project from day one as specialist planner and advisor. “A comprehensive and holistic approach to planning is crucial for the successful realization of such a special building”, according to company founder, Professor Dr. Werner Sobek. 

Penned by Berlin architects Richter Musikowski, Futurium was opened in autumn 2017. The striking sculptural building in the Berlin Spreebogen district will be used to showcase future-orientated developments of national and international importance, presenting them to the general public as part of exhibitions and events to be held in the building.

The sustainability credentials of the Futurium building are derived from a concept developed by WSGreenTechnologies. The new construction project benefitted from holistic planning and optimization right from the beginning in terms of its economic, ecological and socio-cultural footprint. Thanks to the comprehensive and timely consideration of all aspects of sustainability during the planning and execution phases of the project, Futurium was able to achieve the highest score ever attained during sustainability certification. The building was also awarded the best possible rating for material ecology. The certification procedure was carried out in accordance with the BNB rating system for sustainable building.

The Futurium – an inner-city 'power station'

Notwithstanding its ambitious architectural design, designated usage as an event venue and high level of comfort, the Futurium is an energy plus building in terms of primary energy consumption, thanks to a compact design, passive construction features appropriate for the usage of the building (particularly with regards to the building envelope), a strict policy of needs-based air and energy provision as well as highly-efficient building services technology. As well as making extensive use of solar thermal and photovoltaic installations, the building relies exclusively on a highly-efficient trigeneration system (combined power, cooling and heating) for the provision of energy. Latent cold and electricity storage units allow peaks in supply and demand to be evened out, thus completely eliminating the need to install any peak load boilers. Viewed over the space of a year, the building produces a primary energy surplus of 8 kWh/m²a or 99,000 kWh/a (relative to demand as defined in the EnEV Energy Saving Directive).

WSGreenTechnologies was on board the project from day one as specialist planner and advisor; close collaboration between architects, client and other planning experts was key for the extremely successful realization of this particularly sustainable building.

"We were able to continually optimize the energy quality and sustainability of the building thanks to the use of the BNB system during the project planning phase", explains Kurt Denzel, Managing Director of WSGreenTechnologies.

A plea for the careful use of resources in the urban environment

“The fundamental aim of this project was to design a building featuring a high level of user comfort with excellent energy properties, whilst ensuring the careful use of the construction materials at our disposal. We aim to plan buildings, urban areas and cities that are all sustainable.” This is Sobek‘s vision.

WSGreen Technologies, the Werner Sobek Group specialist in sustainability and construction technology, is also behind the sustainability concept of the Futurium building.

A building for hosting exhibitions and events in the heart of Berlin, the Futurium is a low-energy building with a BNB-Gold sustainability rating.

Both sculptural and open, natural light streams through the glass facade exterior and into the barrier-free exhibition rooms. Two dramatic picture windows, one measuring 9 x 28 m on the south elevation and another measuring 11 x 28 m on the north side of the building draw in cityscape views.

In total, the facade comprises than 8000 panels. This includes 70 x 70 cm elements with folded metal reflectors and textured glass with a ceramic print that create ever-changing effects under shifting light conditions.

A number of sustainable building elements include a roof cistern, which collects rain water for use in cooling the building and watering green areas. Further to this, the roof is covered with photovoltaics and solar panels that generate electricity and thermal energy.