A Media Empire’s New Palace

The media and technology company Axel Springer is making an architectural statement in Berlin. In the city's former newspaper district, the imposing new building rises into the air. Geberit is represented both in front of and behind the wall.

In the heart of Berlin, a modern office complex attracts attention: the new Axel Springer building. The media company publishes newspapers such as “Bild“ and “Welt”. More than 3,000 workspaces, TV studios, newsrooms and restaurants are spread over an area of 52,000 square meters. The building has 13 floors, two of which are underground.

Designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, the building cube is divided into a north and a south section. In the 45-meter-high atrium, a connecting bridge picks up the course of the wall. While the lower floors are terraced towards the center of the building, the upper five floors are suspended from the roof structure and project into the interior.

In this Berlin building, Geberit products are installed in front of and behind the wall. Andreas Frischmuth, who was responsible for building services, piping and sanitary installations, says: “Considering the short construction period and the inner-city location, the logistical effort for material deliveries was enormous. We were on site with up to 35 installers at a time, we had to be fast and we were building up to five floors in parallel.“

The Geberit Mapress stainless steel supply system was used for the drinking water and heating systems. In addition, the plumbers in the new Axel Springer building relied on the highly sound-insulated Geberit Silent-db20 drainage system and, in some cases, the more economical Geberit Silent-PP.

The Geberit Pluvia drainage system is installed on the roof. It sucks up to 25 liters of water per second from the roof per inlet when it rains. The connection and downpipes are made of Geberit PE pipes. Some of the ceramics also come from Geberit - in particular the WCs from the Renova or Renova Comfort series. Behind the wall, the Geberit Duofix installation system is in use.