Potsdamer Platz
Berlin, Germany
323,000 sq. ft. Greenroofs & additional Green Infrastructure
(Video)
Greenroofs.com Featured Project June 6, 2023
First of all, Happy World Green Roof Day 2023!
In honor of the upcoming World Green Infrastructure Congress 2023 (WGIC 2023) at the end of this month, we’re refeaturing the huge campus of the Potsdamer Platz in lively Berlin. When we attended the first WGIC in June 2017 we had the pleasure of visiting many features of the Potsdamer Platz on our tour.
We enjoyed spectacular views overlooking the greenroofs of the Potsdamer Platz and then rambled around the property at our leisure, checking out the various water bodies – it’s really all about the water and how to manage it!
Potsdamer Platz is important for many cultural reasons, and the excellent built-in green infrastructure is icing on the cake – or greenroof – I had to say it!
Publisher’s Note: Greenroofs.com is pleased once again to be a Media Partner for the World Green Infrastructure Congress 2023 in Berlin. Aramis and I will be attending and we’d love to see you! Please come to Linda’s presentation “2023 Top 10 List of Hot Resilient Trends in Greenroof & Greenwall Design” on the second day, Wednesday, June 28 at 11:30am in the Hall of Events.
Excerpt [only] from the Featured Project Series video (see the entire Greenroofs.com Project Profile):
Located at the geographical center of Berlin, the award winning Potsdamer Platz is a historic square reborn since fall of the Berlin Wall. As the meeting point of the city’s five most bustling streets, the revitalized 1.3 hectare entertainment hub is a unique blend of art, entertainment, shopping, corporate centers, and one of Europe’s premiere urban quarters known for exceptional and ground-breaking architecture.
Potsdamer Platz was razed during World War II and redeveloped after the reunification of East and West Berlin in 1990. The site of the old Berlin Wall, Potsdamer Platz entailed rebuilding the heart of post-Cold War Berlin into the new capital’s city center.
It was designed by an international team of architects headed by Renzo Piano. Redeveloped by Daimler, the water sensitive urban design, building-integrated water recycling systems and industrial regeneration have come to represent an iconic symbol of designing “Green and Blue” urban waterscapes using rainwater where it falls.
Designed by Studio Dreiseitl, this includes Potsdamer Platz’s 30,000 m² or about 323,000 square feet of greenroofs.
The stormwater management, harvesting and recycling system is fed by the city’s 21 inches of annual rainwater. The greenroofs retain and then release water to the large on-site buffer pond which has five underground storage tanks. Cisterns provide water for the 3-acre artificial Piano Lake, and approximately 4 million gallons of water are circulated though filtration beds once every three days.
The excess overflow water is used as grey water for toilet flushing, irrigation, and fire systems. The cleansed water flows into a beautiful large piazza for visitors to enjoy.
More
In all, the Potsdamer Platz manages an estimated 23,000 m³ per year of potable water and its cooling capacity reduces summer temperatures by approximately 2°C.
Always bustling with people, restaurants and activity, the popular Potsdamer Platz is a favorite destination of both locals and tourists alike with up to 100,000 visiting per day.
Year: 1998
Owner: Brookfield Property Partners
Location: Berlin, Germany
Building Type: Multi-Use
Type: Extensive & Intensive plus additional green infrastructure of stormwater management, harvesting, and recycling systems
System: Custom
Size: 323000 sq.ft. of greenroofs
Slope: 1.5%
Access: Inaccessible, Private
Credits:
MASTER PLANNER ARCHITECT:
RENZO PIANO
ARCHITECTS:
CHRISTOPH KOHLBECKER, ARATA ISOZAKI, ULRIKE LAUBER AND WOLFRAM WÖHR, RICHARD ROGERS, RAFAEL MONEO
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, WATER DESIGN:
ATELIER DREISEITL
PROJECT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT:
DANIEL ROEHR
GREENROOF LANDSCAPE DESIGN:
KRUEGER UND MOEHRLE
See the Project Profile
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Love the Earth, Plant a Roof (or Wall)!
By Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEED AP, GRP
Greenroofs.com Publisher & Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summits Host