Andels - Berlin

The Italian architect Aldo Rossi was recognised as much for his theories as his buildings. In ‘The Architecture of The City’ he argued that the city remembers its past through monuments, and that these monuments give structure to a place.

Yet few people seemed to remember the monumental structure of Studio Aldo Rossi’s half-completed building on Berlin’s Landsberger Allee 106, as it sat unoccupied for a decade and half after works were halted on site in the early Nineties due to a lack of funding.

Originally conceived as a mixed-use retail and residential scheme, no developer appeared to have the appetite to complete the topped-out building, stuck on the edge of Prenzlauer Berg on the eastern outskirts of Berlin. It was fifteen years before UBX 1 Objekt Berlin GmbH – a joint venture between Austrian real estate developers UBM and Warimpex – acquired the building with a plan convert it to a hotel as part of their fast-growing Andels brand.

Berlin-based architects Seeger Müller Architekten were employed to reformulate Rossi’s blueprint, with Jestico + Whiles handling interior design and elements of the interior architecture. Project managers were IGP Ingenieur AG, who oversaw completion of the project within 19 months.

Their task was a daunting one, for this is a large hotel by any measure – over 90,000 m2 in total, stacked onto a footprint of 9,615m2. The lower floors accommodate 3,800m2 of conference space, with 557 guestrooms occupying the hotel above.

The original building designs were arranged around a central courtyard, now largely infilled with the hotel’s ballroom, alongside a small garden at ground level. On the corner of the building where Landsberger Allee meets Storkower Strasse, a 60-metre high tower rises up above the rest of the hotel. Other conference and meeting areas, including a dedicated entrance and lobby for delegates, are organised around the ballroom on the ground floor.

One of the most significant changes to the original design, and one which posed a particular challenge for the architects and construction team, was the introduction of truck lifts – the first ever in a hotel, according to the developers – capable of transporting trucks, buses and other exhibits weighing up to 28 metric tons to the basement level. 
This is the fourth Andels hotel completed by Jestico + Whiles, following earlier projects in Prague and Krakow, and their largest hotel project to date. The scale of the building is hinted at in the size of the lobby – a white, open-plan expanse punctuated with colourful interventions such as individually styled lounging zones with designer furniture in reds and oranges, a mustard-bordered carpet, and an ovoid feature wall clad in gold tiles behind reception.

To the left as guests enter the lobby, Oscar’s bar and brasserie is a double-height space clad in a random arrangement of white stone tiles. The central bar is created from stacked glass, with pink and red accents in the surrounding chairs, carpets and glass wall-insets.

Dining facilities, and further meeting / breakout areas are located on the first floor. Despite having space for over 500 guests, Jestico + Whiles have retained a sense of intimacy within the hotel’s ‘Delight’ restaurant – comprising two large dining rooms – through the extensive use of upholstered dividing screens, highlighted in bold colours, with cleverly positioned cut-outs and mirrors avoiding a claustrophobic feel.
More intimate still is the 60-cover ‘A.Choice’ fine dining restaurant, serving gourmet Austrian cuisine. Here lime green upholstery is contrasted with dark wood furnishings. Wired screens break up the space yet allow sightlines through from one table to another, with a central walk-in ‘wine closet’ housing a tasting table.
The bedroom design is centred around a monochrome palette with injections of fresh and interesting colour, citrus yellow in some rooms, magenta in others.

In keeping with other hotels within the Andels portfolio there is a pared down simplicity to the rooms – functional working spaces are combined with comfy grey sofas and designer lamps with retro-patterned curtains adding a layer of pattern to the otherwise muted interiors.
All rooms feature mod-cons such as individual climate control, flatscreen satellite TV, DVD player, high speed internet access, mini-bar, in-room safe with integrated laptop-charging capabilities and tea/coffee-making facilities.

With the building originally configured for residential use, the bathrooms were rationalised to four basic types across all 567 rooms. This not only made the hotel simpler to operate, but also offered significant economies in construction through repetition, despite the existing structure being unsuitable for pod construction. The resulting bathrooms are large, well equipped spaces with glass enclosed showers, large well-lit mirrors, stainless steel fittings and windows providing a visual connection through to the bedroom.

On the upper levels, a Sky Lounge and Sky Bar offer awe-inspiring views over the city skyline and evening sunsets. The Sky Lounge and Bar continues the design theme of the bedrooms, with bright citrus-yellow accents in the furniture upholstery and bar front set against a clean, monochrome backdrop on one floor, and a more vibrant scheme of magentas, purples and reds in the bar above.

For executive guests, there is also an exclusive private lounge split over two levels with its own terrace and executive business facilities.
Following its completion, the hotel is being operated under management contract by Vienna International. According to CEO Rudolf Tucek, Berlin’s increasing status as a conference destination, combined with the transport links offered by the hotel’s location, make it ideally suited to a large hotel of this nature.

Jestico + Whiles are currently working on the next Andels hotel located in Lodz, Poland. This conversion of a former textile factory– one of the biggest red brick and cast iron Victorian factories of 19th century Europe – is due to open this Spring and will include 180 bedrooms, 80 long stay apartments, a four level atrium, bar, café, restaurant and 600 capacity conference venue.

ANDELS HOTEL
Landsberger Allee 106, D-10369 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 30 453 053 0
www.andelsberlin.com

Rooms    557 guestrooms
Dining    2 dining rooms, fine dining restaurant
Drinking    Oscar’s, Sky Lounge & Bar
Leisure    550m2 health & fitness centre
Facilities    3,800m2 conference centre