OMA’s design for Axel Springer’s new media centre in Berlin has been chosen as the winner in the final round of a public design competition.
The building is planned to embody Axel Springer's corporate shift from print to digital media, and to create a new hub in the existing Axel Springer campus in central Berlin.
The new office block is bisected by a diagonal atrium that opens up to the existing Springer buildings – an extension of the Springer campus. The essence of the proposal is a series of terraced floors that together form a 'valley'.
Each floor contains a covered part for formal work, which is then uncovered on the terraces to act as an informal stage and a place to broadcast ideas to other parts of the company. The ground floor is open to the city and contains studios, event and exhibition spaces, canteens and restaurants.