Page 111 - AIT1224_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design TRU Architekten, Berlin
Isometrie • Isometric
Grundriss Erdgeschoss • Ground floor plan
Bauherr • Client BRD vertreten durch BLB, Potsdam
Standort • Location Michendorfer Chaussee 23, Potsdam
Nutzfläche • Floor space 11.600 m 2
Fotos • Photos Ulrich Schwarz, Berlin
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More info on page 150
WEATHER SERVICE
IN POTSDAM
The Albert Einstein Science Park on Potsdam’s Telegrafen-
berg is not only a location that is rich in tradition for inno-
vative research institutions: geodesy and the systematic
measurement of the earth’s magnetic field have their
origins at this globally significant birthplace of German
meteorology. In 2023, the new German Weather Service
building by TRU Architects was inaugurated.
T he main task of the German Meteorological Service (DWD) is to warn
of hazards and to report regularly to the federal government, thus
providing important weather services not only for the general public but
also for nautical, aviational and agricultural purposes. Climate monitoring,
its documentation, the evaluation of changes and the exchange with
research institutions are based on the evaluations of a dense measuring
network with numerous weather stations. In addition to its headquarters
in Offenbach am Main, the DWD has branches in Munich, Stuttgart, Essen,
Leipzig, Hamburg and Potsdam. The latter has been thoroughly moderni-
zed and a complex spatial programme with grounds for measuring fields
and antenna-installation areas in the outdoor facilities has been brought
into a functional context. What is special about DWD Potsdam is that it
has a Disaster Back-up Data Centre (DBRZ) and thus effectively provides
fail-safe protection for the German Meteorological Data Centre (DMRZ) in
Offenbach. The new building, with a façade of bronze-coloured alumi-
nium panels, consists of three staggered structures, up to three storeys
high, connected by a 70-metre-long “weather boulevard” as a circulation
element. TRU designed the boulevard as a central communication space,
where visitor groups can learn about the areas of responsibility of the
German Weather Service and view the collection of historical measuring
instruments, but where employees from all departments also meet and
can quickly reach the canteen, conference area, break courtyard, fore-
court and measuring fields. At the southern boundary of the property, the
boulevard finally leads to a 30-metre-high antenna tower that ensures
the interference-free reception of weather data. All the offices, which are
heated by the waste heat from the data centre, are consistently oriented
towards the outside space and offer employees an unobstructed view
of the Potsdam Forest. With their joint win of the competition for the
new DWD building in Potsdam in 2014, the three individual offices of
Sandra Töpfer, Dirk Bertuleit, Karsten Ruf, Tim Bauerfeind and Henning
von Wedemeyer also joined forces. The team, which now numbers 20,
has won and implemented numerous other competition projects.
AIT 12.2024 • 111