Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany

Object Type
Townhalls & Congress

Client
KBB | Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH, Berlin

Architects
DFZ Architekten GmbH, Hamburg

Completion
2017

Expertises
Room Acoustics
Building Acoustics

The former congress hall in Tiergarten, built in 1956-57 as an American contribution to the International Building Exhibition, is considered a West Berlin icon of post-war modernism and was listed as a historical monument shortly after its completion.
listed shortly after completion. After reunification, the "pregnant oyster", as it is popularly known in Berlin, became the "House of World Cultures". In 2006, the building underwent a basic refurbishment, which has now been completed as the 2nd partial refurbishment and modernization.

One focus of the modernization measures was to improve the acoustic quality of the auditorium. Due to the wide-ranging usage profile, from concert events with a wide variety of musical genres to events with speech transmission, very high room acoustics requirements had to be taken into account for the 11,300 m² auditorium with 1,047 seats. Extensive measurements of the existing building revealed excessively long reverberation times on the one hand and unfavorable sound reflections on the other, which did not provide optimal acoustic conditions. In close cooperation with the project planners, effective and largely invisibly integrated measures were developed in order to meet the strict requirements of monument protection. These include, for example, the targeted installation of absorbers and diffusers behind the lamella-like wall cladding. Müller-BBM Building Solutions also advised on the planning of the sound reinforcement concept. The reopening of the auditorium in February 2017 was a complete success; operators and users are very satisfied with the significantly improved room acoustics.

Image Copyright
1 Müller-BBM, Louis Geerken
2 Müller-BBM, Louis Geerken
3 Müller-BBM, Louis Geerken