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Entwurf • Design Ester Bruzkus Architekten, Berlin
Grundriss • Floor plan
Bauherr • Client PSD-Bank Berlin-Brandenburg eG
Standort • Location Handjerystraße 33-36, Berlin
Nutzfläche • Floor space 950 m 2
Fotos • Photos Noshe, Andreas Gehrke, Berlin
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More info on page 126
PSD BANK
IN BERLIN-FRIEDENAU
The bank as a living room? Ester Bruzkus Architects
worked closely with the heritage office to convert the
former post-office hall in the historic Berlin-Friedenau
post office for the PSD Bank. In addition to traditional
banking services, the café, lounge, exhibition- and mee-
ting rooms are a lively meeting place in the neighbour-
hood – a real highlight in the age of online banking.
P SD-Bank is one of the oldest of its kind: its abbreviation stands
for Post-, Spar- und Darlehensverein (postal-, savings- and loan-
association) and dates back to its founding around 150 years ago as a
self-help organization for postal employees. Organized as a cooperative
for Berlin and Brandenburg, it was recently repeatedly named the most
popular regional bank with a high level of loyalty and the best moderni-
zation loans. The bank’s remodelling is based on a strong social, formal
and material guiding principle that aims to bring vibrancy and moder-
nity to the district. The café is accessed as soon as you enter the hall
and proves to be a contemporary and inviting neighbourhood magnet
for lingering, meeting and communicating. Young and old alike are
welcome in their own new “community living room in the neighbour-
hood”, and the inclusive concept aims to appeal in particular to older
customers who sometimes find modern digital banking transactions
too impersonal and alienating, who are looking for support or have
questions. Ester Bruzkus Architekten integrated the listing-compliant
renovation of the historic post-office building into the design: the floor,
pillars and ceiling were restored to their original state and produce an
inspiring dialogue with the new materials: warm and stained woods,
shiny metals, terrazzo made from recycled materials and vintage carpets
complement the historic stone floors, the originally preserved and pain-
stakingly restored wooden panelling of the supports and the historic
colours that were uncovered beneath the layers of the last 100 years
in a contrasting but harmonious way and with Bruzkus’ own subtle
opulence. Planted room dividers and terrazzo seating elements divide
functional areas into zones, wheras consultation- and locker areas have
been designed as room-in-room. Outside opening hours, folding-sliding
elements separate the bank, café and lounge areas, allowing access to
the ATMs. It is worth mentioning that, in keeping with the regionally
rooted cooperative bank’s philosophy, the conversion measures prima-
rily favoured the cooperation of medium-sized businesses and regional
Visualisierung • Visualization companies were also chosen for supplying the furniture.
AIT 12.2023 • 079