Located in the Mitte borough, the Gendarmenmarkt has a long history in Germany’s capital city. With this in mind, the area’s new paved flooring was to intentionally replicate the heritage-protected design: an extensive checked pattern featuring light-coloured squares framed by dark lines. The landscape architects overseeing the project, BBS Landscape Engineering GmbH from Berlin together with ASPHALTA-Ingenieurgesellschaft für Verkehrsbau mbH from Falkensee, were responsible for executing, planning and monitoring the project. It was important that the contemporary interpretation of the former style resulted in a barrier-free space with generous sight lines that functions well from a tourism perspective.
Following completion of the restoration work, an extensive, modern distribution network for electricity, potable water and drain water measuring five kilometres in total now sits directly below the 14,000m² area. From now on, any precipitation that makes its way into the ground will be collected in an underground water reservoir for future use, which, unlike the many sealed ground surfaces in urban spaces, takes the strain off the sewer system in the long term. Under the direction of Stefan Dohrmann-Knapp, water company Berliner Wasserbetriebe was also involved in the adopted measures.
Precisely-fitting and space-saving
The Gemini Magna heavy-duty channel produced by Richard Brink GmbH & Co. KG quite literally takes centre stage within the climate-friendly rainwater management system. Together with its integrated stone inlay, this subtle channel traces the lines of one of the darker paved stripes and runs right across the middle of the square from the German to the French Cathedral, before the very eyes of the Schiller statue. Despite its double-slotted design, the channel was made by the metal products manufacturer as a bespoke solution with just one slit. At 120mm high and 162mm wide, the integrated stone inlay was also adapted to fit the dimensions of the paving stones used on site. Only when looking very closely at the remodelled floor does it become apparent that there is, in fact, a line of channels below the paving.
Altogether, the family-run company based in Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock supplied 83 metres of its channel made from 5mm-thick hot-dip galvanised steel, including end pieces and central cut-out sections to connect the channel to the dewatering system via nozzles in DN 150. Even in a thickness of 3mm, the channel body satisfies the requirements of load class D 400 and easily withstands road-traffic loads of up to 40 tons. In the installed custom version with a thickness of 5mm, the channel provides the square with a solid basis for sustaining heavy loads linked to events or delivery vehicles for many years to come.
From Eastern Westphalia for the capital city
Similar to other large-scale Berlin projects that also drew on products from the company Richard Brink, the focus here was on underscoring the character of a future-oriented metropolis. Equipping a barrier-free square with such a huge supply and waste management network without impinging on the overall historical structure was the main challenge facing the Gendarmenmarkt project. Addressing this challenge, Amir Lakhal from KEMNA BAU Ost GmbH & Co. KG, the company that carried out the work, said: “The new system set below ground was not to draw attention. This brief was perfectly met by the bespoke construction. There was, however, another decisive reason why the heavy-duty channel from Richard Brink was chosen: conventional slotted channels require the use of specific devices for their inspection. The deployed solution enables the stone inlay to be removed by the metre, which makes long-term maintenance much easier than with more traditional alternatives.”
“The use of various planting and dewatering systems across a 2,200m²-large rooftop garden in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, almost 3km of custom channels for the redesign of the Center am Potsdamer Platz and 4.5km of façade channels for 32 schools with a modular, timber construction as part of the school building campaign Berliner Schulbauoffensive are a huge credit to our products. In this day and age, individual yet functional solutions are in higher demand than ever before – and we excel in our ability to provide such solutions quickly,” says Stefan Brink, Managing Director of Richard Brink GmbH & Co. KG, commenting on the manufacturer’s most recent projects in the capital, which now include Gendarmenmarkt. Ralf Walter and Stefan Asbrede, representatives of the building contractor Grün Berlin, also clearly approve of the result: “Our expectations were more than met and we would like to thank everyone involved for the successful implementation.”
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