A new skyscraper featuring the highest hotel in Germany and direct access to the Estrel Congress Center is being lined up for a prominent site in the Neukölln district.

This significant mixed-use development will support the ongoing regeneration of the lively Neukölln district in the German capital.

A new hub within Berlin

Ekkehard and Maxim Streletzki are working with architects Frank Barkow and Regine Leibinger of Barkow Leibinger to bring to life the Estrel Tower scheme, which has been ten years in the planning. The total investment volume of the project, excluding land, is estimated at €260 million.

Scheduled to open in 2024, this 176 m structure will span 45 floors and 77,500 sq m in total. The mixed-use skyscraper will feature 525 hotel rooms and serviced apartments, along with 9,000 sq m of offices and coworking space, 2,000 sq m of event space and a floor dedicated to wellness and fitness.

These facilities will be built around a light-filled atrium containing abundant greenery, a bakery, a gallery and a start-up incubator.

The building will sit alongside a public park and recreation area on the banks of the canal. Moreover, the tower will incorporate a tunnel connecting it with the Estrel Congress Center, which boasts 30,000 sq m of event space, helping to establish the complex as a key gateway between the city centre and Berlin Brandenburg Airport.

Flexible space for interaction

The plans for this structure have evolved throughout the past two years to take into account how the pandemic has altered people’s wants and needs.

In particular, the development team has considered how meetings and events will look in years to come, improving existing concepts to facilitate interaction between visitors and residents. The property’s meeting space and private dining rooms will take up the 41st and 42nd floors, with the 43rd and 44th floors then housing a farm-to-table restaurant highlighting the produce of local farms.

A highlight of the structure is set to be its sky bar, which will come with an outdoor terrace and provide panoramic views over Berlin. The upper four floors are also being flexibly designed to accommodate events.

Ambitious sustainability plans

Sustainability is of the utmost importance to the team, with the building’s exterior expected to incorporate aluminium fins to provide natural cooling in the warmer months. Planted rooftops will be fitted with solar panels and the scheme is to make use of a CO2-saving energy concept that it’s hoped will become a blueprint for future projects, while more than half of the site’s parking is reserved for bicycles.

Internally, there’ll be plenty of regionally sourced wood and recycled materials on show, and the grounds are to be planted with wildflowers to create a biotope for diverse species. Brandherm + Krumrey is working on the interiors, with Hager Partner focusing on the landscape design.

Ultimately, the project aims to earn LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] Gold certification.

Many TOPHOTELNEWS articles draw on exclusive information from the TOPHOTELPROJECTS construction database. This subscription-based product includes details of thousands of hotel projects around the world, along with the key decision-makers behind them. Please note, our data may differ from records held by other organisations. Generally, the database focuses on four- and five-star schemes of significant scale; tracks projects in either the vision, pre-planning, planning, under-construction, pre-opening or newly opened phase; and covers newbuilds, extensions, refurbishments and conversions.

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