OMA: Axel Springer

OMA wins competition to design Axel Springer's media centre in Berlin, that will embody Axel Springer's corporate shift from print to digital media, and will create a new hub in the campus.

OMA's design for Axel Springer's new media centre in Berlin has been chosen as the winner in the final round of a public design competition.

Opposite the existing Axel Springer headquarters on Zimmerstrasse, a street which previously separated East and West Berlin, the building will be situated at one of the city’s most significant locations.

Oma: Axel Springer media centre, Berlin — OMA, Axel Springer media centre, Berlin. Image courtesy OMA

The new office block is bisected by a diagonal atrium that opens up to the existing Springer buildings – an extension of the Springer campus. The essence of the proposal is a series of terraced floors that together form a "valley". Each floor contains a covered part for formal work, which is then uncovered on the terraces to act as an informal stage and a place to broadcast ideas to other parts of the company. The ground floor is open to the city and contains studios, event and exhibition spaces, canteens and restaurants.