Sofitel Hotel

Berlin, Germany

Photo © Stefan Müller

Architects: Kleihues + Kleihues

Location: Augsburger Straße 41, 10789 Berlin, Germany
Year: 2005

Building a hotel with about 300 rooms and various other facilities in an existing and traditional urban context while ensuring a timeless design presented quite the challenge to the architects. Especially in the area around Kurfürstendamm, where the height of most of the nearby buildings and blocks is limited to a traditional 22.5 metres. Only a handful of very high buildings, such as the Allianz building, the Swissôtel and the Victoria Areal, are located in the area. The exterior of the Sofitel Hotel pulls this discrepancy into a compositional balance by embracing the traditional building height and block configuration, of which it considers itself a part, and by pulling in the various surrounding heights and tapering them into a symmetrical building centre, which gives the building its own self-referential dimension and independence. The work has a sculptural dynamic entirely of its own making despite being developed within the ‘corset’ of the block and reflecting the height of the other buildings. Inside the building, the interlinking of functions is the central theme: On the one hand, the main functional and public rooms are grouped around a central space, symmetrical and clearly defined in their design; on the other hand, the individual areas merge into one another so that the building can be perceived as a whole. The diverse functions within the building are subordinate to the exterior, which is focused on projecting a unified appearance.