Architects in Berlin: buildings, vibe and history

Our place in the world shapes who we are, including us as architects. Berlin leaves its mark on us every day – just as we try to make the capital a little more interesting and exciting with our designs and planning. What makes Berlin so fascinating for architects like us? An overview.

Few other cities in Europe are as creative and dynamic. In our opinion, Berlin can play along with world metropolises such as New York or London – the latter, by the way, is well known to OOW founders Sebastian Blancke and Mathis Malchow, because the two met at Norman Foster's office in the British capital. Berlin's advantage: compared to other hotspots, the capital is still relatively affordable. This draws creative and open-minded people to the city, which benefits OOW as an employer. Most of our staff come to Berlin from abroad. The work at OOW appeals to them – but of course the extremely vibrant metropolis does too.

The glass and steel construction above the plenary hall is one of Berlin's most iconic structures. In the giant dome (40 metres in diameter, 3000 square metres of glazing, 800tonnes of steel) we immediately recognise the hand of star architect Norman Foster, who played a major role in its construction. Incidentally, it was at his London office that our founders Mathis Malchow and Sebastian Blancke decided during their all-night drafting sessions to start their own business together as architects in Berlin. Good to know: the dome is open to everyone – this might be the closest you will ever get to excellent architecture and to the control room of a democracy at the same time.

Study architecture where architectural history was made: the striking new building was designed – like the Reichstag dome – by Norman Foster. The library resembles the shape of a brain and is therefore known as “The Berlin Brain”. What's interesting: several prominent architects helped shape the appearance of Freie Universität. Georges Candilis, Alexis Josic, Shadrach Woods and Manfred Schiedhelm designed the “Rost- und Silberlaube” building complexes. Incidentally, the façade of the “Rostlaube” is proportioned according to the rules of the Modulor measurement system. The Henry-Ford-Bau with the university's Auditorium Maximum was conceived by Franz-Heinrich Sobotka and Gustav Müller.

Beautifully austere with wide masonry pillars made of Italian sandstone on the outside; a dazzling display by star architect Frank Gehry on the inside: we are impressed by the curved glass roof and the wooden cocoon that hovers above the conference room. Incidentally, for the creator of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, this hall is “the best shape I have designed in my entire life so far”.

The cube-shaped building (opened in 2020 after four years of construction) is located around the corner from our former office on Leipziger Strasse and was conceived by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, who also designed his country's embassy in Berlin as well as the luxurious interior of the legendary KaDeWe department store. The light-flooded building is characterised by interconnecting terraces, a 45-metre-high atrium and building elements with a 3D effect.

Berlin has undergone an insane transformation and is constantly changing. As an architect, this has its special charm: in Berlin, we plan the ever-changing.

This is also evident at our office at Torstrasse 42, in the Suhrkamp-Haus at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz – right where Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg merge into one another. You have to imagine Torstrasse as a mixture of Wilhelminian façades, post-war buildings and new architecture such as the Suhrkamp-Haus itself, with small shops, galleries and bars in between and the Volksbühne theatre around the corner. We find there is a special, very distinctive vibe here with an exciting range of spaces: not polished, not perfect, but with a lot of freedom of thought. And that shows in our architecture.

As architects, we are inspired by the buildings and designs of Berlin just as much as we help shape the metropolis to a certain extent – for example with building and design projects for public authorities, in new rental housing or for offices.

Our architecture firm creates high-quality spaces for living and working – from design to execution. Our work focuses on the following areas:

• Rental housing

• Residential construction

• Social housing

• Commercial architecture

• Office fit-outs

• Hotel construction, hotel planning

• Sustainable building

Leopoldplatz – “Residential construction in Berlin by OOW”

With the new rental apartment building at Leopoldplatz we did not only design a beautiful façade, but also created more than 8000 square metres of affordable living space by means of the design details. Not only the city planning department was thrilled, but also the owner, who can rent out six times the space formerly used.

“Treffpunkt Demenz” at the Augustinum Kleinmachnow

In order to create a pioneering facility for the care of residents with dementia with the “Treffpunkt Demenz” at the Augustinum Kleinmachnow, we spared no effort and visited facilities both in Germany and abroad. This resulted in a concept that can become the standard care model.

Bundestag administration

For the Bundestag administration in a prime Berlin location, we took on the rental planning as well as the interior design and its realisation – and created 220 offices on 8400 square metres in record time.

7047 // Concrete – “Radically minimalist rear building in Berlin”

With “7047 // Concrete” we created a radically minimalist rear building – combining carefully chosen materials and perfectionist attention to detail, right down to the custom-made concrete bathtub.

260° Bar – “Our contribution to Berlin's nightlife – the 260° Bar”

The rooftop bar 260 Grad is our contribution to Berlin's nightlife:

when it gets darker, the concept reveals its own magic with harmonising colours and materials.

Ärztehaus Luisenplatz

With the Ärztehaus Luisenplatz, we have demonstrated how spaces that were previously used as flats and offices can be converted into a modern medical centre – in close consultation with the heritage conservation authority.

Ride Berlin

At first glance, Ride Berlin is a typical spinning gym. But the design created an indoor cycling studio with a club atmosphere, where people work up a sweat to pounding beats in a dark space.

What's good to know (and very important for us as a growing firm): in Berlin, architects don't just work on the most exciting new projects – the talents of tomorrow are also trained here at numerous universities (as our founder Mathis Malchow was, by the way: he studied at Technische Universität).

Architecture can in fact be studied at several locations in Berlin:

at Technische Universität (TU) Berlin

at Berliner Hochschule für Technik

at Berlin University of the Arts

All three universities offer Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes. We can say from personal experience: architecture and Berlin – they go together beautifully.