Berlin, Alexanderplatz. By 2025, this prestigious address will feature a further striking new building  complex. Drees & Sommer is supporting Covivio with planning and realizing the vision of a vibrant vertical city in the heart of the German capital.

A high-rise tower and plinth will provide space for offices, residential units, retail, and food and beverage outlets. There will also be a kindergarten and a club floor with a roof terrace.

The development is the first high-rise building to be built under the new town-planning scheme for Alexanderplatz. It will also be the first high-rise building in Berlin to make use of geothermal energy. An area network will supply the new building with power. The project’s sustainability goals are reflected by the aspiration to achieve LEED Gold and Wired Score Platinum certification.

Drees & Sommer’s main contributions to the Covivio project are in the areas of technical and economic expertise – including acting as the client representative for building services equipment (BSE). The aim of the project team is to provide comprehensive consulting, thus laying a firm foundation to ensure the smooth progress of the project right from the outset.

The inner-city location, which increases the complexity of construction logistics, is a particular challenge. In addition, the plinth around the Park Inn  hotel had to be partially demolished to clear the construction site. Here, too, Drees & Sommer experts contributed to the successful completion of  the task, allowing construction work to start as planned in May 2021.

The experts also covered many other aspects of the project, for example, by conducting a Digital Ready Check, advising Covivio on an indoor climate concept for the offices and facade, as well as on BIM management and  facade planning. Even during the planning phase, technical & economic controlling services added value for the client and planners – and thus for  the entire project.

When Covivio was looking for a contractor for energy engineering, Drees & Sommer supported the developer by managing a competition with the goal of getting bidders to propose innovative, cost-efficient energy concepts. The parties involved achieved this with flying colors, saving Covivio some €8.5 million in investment costs.