Berrel Kräutler Architekten Berrel Kräutler Architekten

Embassy Beijing

0254

Embassy Beijing

Embassy Beijing
Situation in the traditional urban fabric
Situation in the traditional urban fabric

While just one block away, the city­scape is char­acter­ized by a sky­scrapers and hectic traffic, the vicin­ity around the Swiss Embassy at the heart of Beijing is notice­ably verdant, tranquil, and dispersed in develop­ment. The build­ing is based on a lucid mas­ter­plan with a spacious ortho­gonal structure. The design seeks to inte­grate itself into this frame­work, thereby adopt­ing the small-scale urban texture of the neigh­bour­hood.

The archi­tec­ture occupies the edges of the parcel, while emerg­ing within is a versa­tile, spacious, cohesive garden realm — a green oasis for residents and employees of the Swiss Embassy, as well as visitors.

Ground floor — administration building (left), event hall (below) and existing residence (right)
Ground floor — administration building (left), event hall (below) and existing residence (right)

The property is framed by a 3-meter-tall wall which screens it from the street, as well as from adja­cent proper­ties. The archi­tec­ture devel­ops out of the wall, which becomes a space-con­tain­ing element.

View from the ambassador’s residence looking towards the event hall (left) and the administration building (right)
View from the ambassador’s residence looking towards the event hall (left) and the administration building (right)

Emerging together with the ambas­sador’s residence are three build­ings, set in a garden, which are linked via the wall. This element pulls the archi­tec­ture together while gener­at­ing a frame­work for a multi­face­ted garden land­scape within.

Section of the administration building
Section of the administration building

The administrative build­ing is organised on three floors. Found on the ground floor is a cafe­teria with an out­door terrace, a travel centre and a large confe­rence room. Stair­cases, contained in four concrete columns, ascend to the upper floor, where the offices are located. The centre is formed by a glass-covered atrium.

Upper floor of administration building
Upper floor of administration building
Basement of the administration building
Basement of the administration building
Lounge on the ground floor of the administration building
Lounge on the ground floor of the administration building

0254 Swiss Embassy Beijing

Reference numbers
Competition: 2018, 2nd place

Project participants
Client: Bundesamt für Bauten und Logistk BBL
Construction engineer: Dr. Neven Kostic
Landscape architect: ASP Landschaftsarchitekten
Visualisation: maaars

Team BBK
Tilmann Weissinger, Kerstin Spiekermann, Thomas Merz

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