IHK Berlin Business Welcome Center

Ludwig Erhard House was designed in 1994-1997 by the British architectural team of Grimshaw, London. Fifteen bridge arches support the eight upper floors and allow for a spacious foyer of almost 2,000 m² with a gallery.

A new central entrance provides all visitors to the building with a point of contact and the building with a unique address. The reception area, with information and a wide range of consulting options, is located inside.

Generous glazing of the openings to the atriums provide a view of the unique construction and structure of the building. A new open staircase connects the gallery, supplemented by meeting rooms, with the ground floor. New glass balustrades create views into and out of the building and emphasise transparency and openness.

The hall is also used for many different events such as lectures, trade fairs, exhibitions and events. Structural fixtures are reduced to a minimum space requirement in order to enable the most flexible possible use of the hall.

The hall is equipped with a modular furnishing system for meeting and information points and rest areas, and was specially developed for this project. This also allows for quick and easy transformation of the hall.

The central reception and consulting desk offers two to four consulting points and can also be completely retracted by motor if required. Multimedia elements make it possible to keep information up-to-date and adapt it to current needs.

In addition to modern energy-saving and flexible LED lighting special emphasis was also placed on improving the room acoustics. A close-meshed network of data and media connections support a wide variety of usage scenarios.

All measures were carried out with respect for the existing building and in close coordination with the Grimshaw office.

AUKETT + HEESE won the competition for the redesign and planned and supervised the conversion measures with a total volume of 13 million euros.