Gross Floor Area: 26.500 square meters
Investment Volume: € 80 million
Types of Use: Church, Exhibition Space, Retail, F&B
Architecture: Egon Eiermann
Size of the Project Team: 9 Employees

Like the Brandenburg Gate, the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche – often simply referred to as Memorial Church - is an iconic Berlin landmark. To be selected as advisors to the leaders of the church community on real estate matters for the period July 2013 to February 2015 was a particular honor for us. A project of this kind is unusual for a real estate developer and, for the first time, we offered our services entirely free of charge.

Our involvement was sparked by a dispute between the church and the preservation offices. A part of the ensemble known as the Foyer Building, designed in the late 1950s by architect Egon Eiermann, had fallen almost entirely into disuse, and so the church wanted to release it for commercial use. However, because their plans entailed significant modifications to the fabric of the building, preservation officials rejected them.

After carefully analyzing the parameters of the five buildings that comprise the Memorial Church compound and their current uses, the church community’s intention to generate additional revenues, and the objections of the preservation authorities, we developed a new usage concept not just for the Foyer Building but for the complex as a whole.

Essentially, we proposed converting the ground floor of the historic church tower ruin – a deconsecrated space that is now used for exhibitions – into a stylish but affordable restaurant. Auxiliary spaces for a kitchen and WC’s were to be accommodated on a new underground level adjacent to the tower. Facing east, the main entrance to the restaurant would reduce circulation levels in the vestibule of the entrance to the main church which is located vis-à-vis the tower ruin. The exhibition elements would be thoroughly updated and redistributed within the compound, with some on the ground floor of the bell tower and others on a previously unused level above the restaurant in the ruins of the old tower. The main church and the chapel would remain in use, of course, but re-claim more prominence. The Foyer Building, which had been the reason we became involved, would receive substantial modifications to its interior, but its outside would remain virtually unchanged. A uninterrupted, transparent ground-floor space would accommodate a museum-standard church shop with integrated coffee shop. An extension to one side of the underground floor would make it suitable for use as an exhibition space and to accommodate the pastoral care offices.

Our concept introduced the church community to new perspectives and potential uses for the entire complex. At the time, the church depended on a variety of sources for financing, despite its tremendous symbolic importance, but our concept not only supported its role as a place of worship but also reduces its dependence on third-party financing.