Straight and Colonnades

Straight and Colonnades

Wayfinding

COORDINATION has developed a comprehensive signage system for Berlin‘s new Heidestraße quarter.

In the heart of Europacity, in the immediate vicinity of Berlin‘s main railway station, the new city quarter on Heidestraße with a total floor area of 295,000 sqm has recently been completed. COORDINATION developed a comprehensive and graphically striking wayfinding system and visual identity in collaboration with the agency Rosendahl Borngräber. The challenge was to create an orientation system that is intuitive for different users - residents, office workers and visitors - and at the same time meaningful and timeless.

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The Straight Building
The apartment building Straight by ROBERTNEUN Architekten embodies urban casualness and a symbiosis of living and working. With its concrete façades, robust exposed concrete lobbies, precise lighting systems and a lush courtyard with striking façade tiles that change colour from green to blue, it offers 32,000 m2 of space for apartments, offices, retail and studios. The large-scale, delicate and linear signage elements were applied directly to the concrete surfaces, creating an unobtrusive, harmonious overall appearance that emphasises the building's urban character. The building has a diverse mixed-use occupancy including apartments, offices, shops, studios and an underground public car park. Therefore the design task for the signage system was challenging, as the diverse needs of the different users needed to be catered to.

The Colonnades Building
With spacious colonnades and a lively mix of retail and catering uses, the building Colonnades, designed by CollignonArchitektur, shapes the central square of the quarter. Distinctly designed lobbies - in dark blue, dark brown and green - clearly differentiate the entrance areas and create a high recognition value. Full-height lettering and finely structured pictograms form a consistent orientation system in the complex 31,000 sqm building, while also giving it an independent visual identity.

Outdoor orientation
The signage system also sets the tone in the public areas of the new quarter: High-quality, internally illuminated signage pillars guide visitors through the outdoor area and reflect the quality and identity of the buildings. Combined with the elements on the façades, this creates a harmonious impression that complements the architectural and graphic design of the quarter.

Facts

Client	Taurecon Real Estate Consulting GmbH
Assignment	Entwicklung und Planung Signaletik für vier Gebäudekomplexe
Design	COORDINATION / Rosendahl-Borngräber, Berlin
Project management	Jochen Gringmuth
Team	Andrea Dunmore, Mirjam Schwab
Architecture Colonnades	Collignon Architektur
Architecture Straight	ROBERTNEUN Architekten
Photos	Yves Sucksdorff