Berlin, 2022
Photo © Klemens Renner

The two new office buildings LEO & ALEX were built on two undeveloped plots on Bornitzstrasse in the Berlin district of Lichtenberg.

Photo © Klemens Renner

The street as well as both buildings in the project are named after the doctor and author Leopold Bornitz and his brother, the parish priest Alexander Bornitz. Between the two volumes are the non-profit Lichtenberger Werkstaetten, which belong to the foundation rehabilitation centre Berlin-East. To the west, the "LEO" office building is bordered by the listed former workshop building of the Konsumgenossenschaft Berlin, built in 1926-27 by Otto Wettstein. To the rear is another listed building, the industrial buildings Josef-Orlopp-Strasse 32/54, and to the east of "ALEX" is the office building "The Wave", built in 1997.

Photo © Klemens Renner

The cubature of the "LEO" building consists of three transverse, three-storey wings, which are connected longitudinally by a seven-storey building section. The rental areas are designed to be flexible, allowing both a cellular office layout and an open-plan variant. The exterior façade of the "LEO" building is structured by a grey-beige mottled brick slip façade. The supports between the ribbon windows were planned as relief sheet metal panelling.

Photo © Klemens Renner
Photo © Klemens Renner
Photo © Klemens Renner