From Hildburg Bruns
The Kurfürstendamm makes it big. The Signa company is building a billion-euro project on the Karstadt property (formerly Wertheim): the crowning glory is a 120-meter tower. This will add a third skyscraper to Berlin’s famous Memorial Church.
“It’s a sensitive place in City West. The goal is to strengthen the urbanity and increase the attractiveness across all crises,” says Berlin’s Senate Building Director Petra Kahlfeldt (63). “We want to create a place worth living in and lively, more experience-oriented than consumption,” says investor representative Timo Herzberg (47).
A staircase leads to the so-called culture terrace for events Photo: Signa
A new passage leads from Kudamm in the direction of Rankestrasse Photo: Signa
It’s clear: The only Kudamm department store that was built in 1969-71 and opened as “Wertheim” is demolished. A tabula rasa is being made between the magnificent boulevard, Augsburger Strasse and Rankestrasse – only the listed Agrippina House (including TKK) remains.
A jury of experts has now made a secret decision on four different proposals: The design by architects from Copenhagen (Henning Larsen) is awarded the contract. After that, a “family” of nine houses will fill the area.
The Kudamm Tower (120.8 meters) with a public panorama garden with a distant view of Grunewald and far beyond Alexanderplatz is outstanding.
From the point of view of the architects, the new office skyscraper is of secondary importance for pedestrians on the magnificent boulevard – because it moves away from the Kudamm facade into the interior of the block. Large shop windows on the Kudamm should invite passers-by to shop inside. Around 30,000 square meters of shops are planned, around half of which will be for the new department store on three floors.
Nice for strolling: A passage with shops, cafés and green islands that will stretch from Kudamm to Los-Angeles-Platz. A staircase also leads from here to the planned cultural terrace for events.
There will be a second, lower tower (79 m, 19 floors) facing Augsburger Strasse for a hotel. This is also adjoined by apartments (5000 sqm, 30 percent subsidised).
Large shop windows are intended to lure people into the shopping area. The Kudamm Tower is set back a little Photo: Signa
Investor Singa (belongs to Ösi billionaire René Benko, 46) expects completion in 2029. The demolition date for the old Karstadt building depends on the planning progress.