Smack in the Middle of It
Rudower Chaussee has developed into one of Adlershof‘s bustling lifelines
After a year’s rest from work, Katrin Julia Riks has re-joined Adlershof Projekt GmbH. She is looking forward to her daily way to the office on Rudower Chaussee: “It’s amazing how much this street has changed in such a short time. It’s great to see projects completed I still remember from their planning phase,” she says, talking about “a totally different feeling.” Adlershof’s thoroughfare has a lively and urban vibe to it, thanks to a variety of new shops, restaurants and service providers including a shoemaker and several bakeries that open even on Sundays.
When confronted with the occasional remark that ‘they roll up the sidewalks after dark’, Ute Hübener, Head of Sales and Marketing with Adlershof Projekt GmbH, permits herself an indulgent smile. At best, it’s the sunshades and awnings of the bistros and restaurants that fold up for the night. In fact, a whole range of new business establishments will further enhance the liveliness of the place, starting right next to Adlershofer Tor where in mid-2019, more than 2,000 Allianz employees will relocate from their Treptowers offices to the insurance company’s newly built headquarters.
So nobody on their way to the train station will have to walk past dark office buildings as there will be shops occupying the finger-shaped structure’s ground floor. Furthermore, a car park with 690 parking spaces – 100 of them to be let out privately – will complement the complex. “Actually, finding a place to park on or around Rudower Chaussee is no longer easy, which is another indication of the vividness of the place,” Hübener adds.
Right at the train station, a modern conference hotel will provide function rooms for up to 1000 people, a Skybar located in the building’s 54m high tower, as well as restaurants, shops and a gym. Just behind it, the OfficeLab Campus is being created, “filling the gap towards the train station,” as Hübener explains, and providing Adlershof with a fine entrance gate. On the opposite side, the oak grove will be remodelled into a leafy oasis complete with ping-pong tables, paths and benches, enhancing the place’s amenity value especially for tenants and employees of the adjacent buildings. In the nearby Nubis office and commercial complex on Franz-Ehrlich-Straße, an asian gourmet restaurant accomodating 170 guests will open by late 2017.
Already completed is the “Medienfenster”, a corner building containing 153 student apartments and several shops including a tea shop, a bakery, and a launderette.
The Air Campus office building is about to be extended on both Rudower Chaussee and the street Am Studio, with more shops moving into the ground floor facing Rudower Chaussee. Construction cranes are in action at the Forum as well: according to tried and tested concepts and in line with the central square’s overall appearance, high quality office spaces and commercial units will move into the Europa-Center complex, making the square ideally suited for urban life right at the heart of Berlin Adlershof.
In other words: within the next years, Rudower Chaussee will once more significantly change appearance, continuing to turn into the quarter’s livable centrepiece offering both residents and employees with the numerous businesses and research institutes everything they may possibly need in day-to-day life. Which has Katrin Julia Riks thinking to herself on her way to work: “There’s so much more I can do here now than there was only three years ago.”
By Chris Löwer for Adlershof Special