Elisabeth-Selbert-Haus, Berlin

A new office and administration building for the German Bundestag will be built on one of Berlin's most historic streets by the end of 2026 to replace the demolished existing building. The sustainable concept envisages the use of alternative energies such as geothermal energy and photovoltaics and will be built using LEAN Construction to optimise efficiency. PORR was awarded the contract as general contractor for the project by the Federal Agency for Real Estate (BlmA).

 With a gross floor area of approx. 13,000 m2, the Elisabeth-Selbert-Haus will have around 200 offices. The L-shaped new building is divided into six full storeys and a basement. The design by kleyer.koblitz.letzel.freivogel gesellschaft von architekten mbh envisages a spacious entrance foyer from which all office areas can be reached via a sculptural spiral staircase. The main wing will have an interior area with a cross-storey air space that transforms the corridors into galleries.

Building in the historic centre of Berlin

The building project presents a number of challenges: It is located on one of Berlin's most historic streets and thus in the centre of parliamentary democracy. Surrounded by historic buildings and in the direct neighbourhood of embassies, the project is not only architecturally challenging. The cramped inner-city location, listed neighbouring buildings and a difficult building site require a high level of planning and construction expertise.

PORR Specialist Civil Engineering is responsible for securing the existing structure, planning and executing the excavation pit, PORR Structural Engineering Region East is carrying out the building construction, while sister company pde Integrale Planung is responsible for coordinating the building information modelling. Andreas Kimling, Technical Regional Manager Building Construction Region East, says: "PORR impressed us with its expertise and concrete proposals, in particular how the construction project could be improved and costs saved. Our comprehensive range of services extends from the planning to the realisation of the project and ensures that the client receives the best possible support at every stage."

Sustainable building concept

The building concept is consistently geared towards sustainability and provides for renewable energy generation from geothermal energy and photovoltaics. In addition, certification in accordance with the criteria of the Sustainable Building Assessment System for Federal Buildings (BNB) is being sought. In order to create optimal conditions for this, PORR is planning and building using LEAN management and Building Information Modelling (BIM) methods. These enable a holistic, transparent presentation of the project over the entire life cycle and promote fast decision-making processes, schedule reliability, cost transparency and efficient collaboration. This creates security for everyone involved.