Hufcor, Inc.

Hotel and Office Building Werdauer Weg / Max Dudler

Viewed from a distance, from the Berlin Ring or the city motorway, the new building in Schöneberg forms a striking architectural ensemble with its neighboring structure by Jürgen Sawade, marking the entrance to the rapidly developing "Schöneberger Linse" and EUREF-Campus areas. Commissioned by Werdauer Weg 3 Immobilien Projektentwicklungs GmbH & Co. KG, the mixed-use building combines office space for Debeka-Berlin and a hotel operated by "the niu," and is conceived as a sister building to Sawade’s high-rise "Platinum." Its design mirrors the cascading form of the neighboring building, reversing the movement from exterior to interior, and rises from a shared five-story base in staggered two-story steps to 11 storeys, echoing "Platinum." By retroactively embedding a previously context-free 1990s building, the new structure integrates seamlessly into the urban fabric, with a lenticular floor plan that reflects the surrounding "Schöneberger Linse" development. Its west-facing silhouette opens the adjacent historic New Twelve Apostles’ churchyard to the city, giving it renewed prominence. The light cream-beige brick façade emphasizes the building’s sculptural character, referencing the granite of "Platinum" and the brick of the neighboring historic monument. Windows are evenly distributed, forming an abstract grid, while deeply set openings and subtle recesses from expansion joint cladding create a dynamic interplay of light and shadow, with structural details serving as natural relief rather than ornamentation. The building’s two main sections are well connected to public transport, with the southern portion housing Debeka-Berlin’s national headquarters and the northern portion accommodating nearly 300 hotel rooms, creating a cohesive and functional urban landmark.