The Hafenküche on the Spree is small – but not insignificant in terms of infrastructure: as a canteen for neighbors and surrounding businesses, for guest berths in the marina next door, for catering the saloon boats and as a beer garden for sundowners. The dilapidated building was extended, with an unconventional look right on the water and a beautiful view over the Spree.
Under the motto “Berlin needs a new building culture – a reuse culture,” the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development, Construction, and Housing is showcasing pioneering projects of high design quality that contribute to sustainable urban development. Among other things, the exhibition features the Spreestudios – Platte and Kantine project, which we implemented and which is characterized by a careful yet fundamental conversion practice that demonstrates the transformation potential of so-called prefabricated buildings from the GDR era. During the conversion process, the supporting structure of the former customs administration building in Rummelsburger Bucht was raised, making use of existing load reserves, and redesigned into a creative hub.
“For us, this means taking a thoughtful approach to preserving and creatively developing existing buildings. As we see it, reuse culture relies on the potential of existing buildings. Instead of demolition and new construction, it opens up avenues for sustainable urban development with high design quality.
In our exhibition “PRESERVING THE EXISTING. CREATING THE NEW. Culture of adaptive Reuse in Berlin,” we ask ourselves what has already been achieved in this area in Berlin and what potential still remains to be tapped.”
-Exhibition announcement by the Senate Department for Urban Development, Construction, and Housing
17.10.2025 – 27.02.2026
Exhibited Project: Spreestudios – Platte und Kantine
Exhibition Space of the Senate Department for Urban Development, Construction, and Housing
Württembergische Straße 6
10707 Berlin
Vernissage
Thursday, 16.10.2025 | 6 – 8 p.m.
Registration possible until 14.10.2025
Registration
Our entry for the international architecture competition The Architect’s Stair was awarded second prize among hundreds of submissions from around the world – a resounding success!
Roof Becomes Stair stands out as one of the few entries that has actually been built, with a clear narrative that not only approaches the theme of circularity as an environmentally conscious measure, but also helps to express its inherent poetry. The design for a staircase in the Salone Verde Art & Social Club, redesigned from the superfluous beams of the roof structure, ties in with a circular building practice that has been practiced naturally and intuitively in Venice for centuries – and convinced the jury of renowned international architects:
“Roof Becomes Stair transforms a modest restoration task into a sculptural intervention rooted in the multi-layered logic of Venetian architecture. The project at the Salone Verde Art & Social Club uses redundant horizontal roof beams removed during heritage conservation work to construct a new wooden spiral staircase leading to a once inaccessible roof gallery. The approach combines craftsmanship and critical reflection, embedding ideas of sustainability and reuse in both form and process.”
– Evaluation by the international jury
Jurymitglieder:
Clément Blanchet (cba | Frankreich)
Sam Brown (O’DonnellBrown | Schottland)
Didier Fiúza Faustino (Didier Faustino | Frankreich)
Jun Igarashi (Jun Igarashi Architects | Japan)
Lydia Kallipoliti (Tallin Architecture Biennale, ANAcycle thinktank | USA)
Lera Samovich (Fala Atelier | Portugal)
Silvana Ordinas (Founder and Partner, Peter Pichler Architecture | Italien)
Danielle Reimers (SAOTA | Südafrika)
Learn more about the project
Every month, we bring together all the moments and finds that have inspired and occupied us over the past few weeks. We look for motifs that reflect our view of architecture and our daily work or reveal new perspectives – be it art, music, people, ecology, economics, a challenge, an unexpected inspiration or a reason for spontaneous joy… everything comes into the discourse.
At the end of each month, we choose our favorite at both office locations – click here for the contributions:
PA.bestpic August
The Walden 7 never gets old and has inspired us once again this month—our team member Mathilda (re)discovered the icon built by Bofill in 1975 and brought it into our discourse. Incidentally, it got its name from descriptions of a utopian community in Thoreau’s work Walden. The modularly and with numerous community spaces designed building itself also strives for new forms of cohabitation.
PA.bestpic Juli
Our favorite find comes from our team member Artur and shows the miniature exhibition Wohnen im Viereck (Kollektiv Schroffke), currently on display at Schaubude Berlin. Through the superimposed reflection of the real cityscape in the window pane, this bestpic tells of dreams and reality and everything in between. What do you dream of?
PA.bestpic June
Our team member Anna discovered the old customs house during a trip through the Punta Bianca nature reserve in Sicily. It was once an important hub for daily trade. Now abandoned and located away from the hustle and bustle of modern life on the Scala di Turchi, it seems to have become part of the surrounding nature.
PA.bestpic May
The bestpic by our team member Nikitas shows the largest roof garden in Europe – the roof of the university library in Warsaw has a botanical garden covering an area of around 1.5 hectares. The roof also offers a sweeping view over the city with the Vistula and the famous Palace of Culture.
PA.bestpic April
The bestpic with the title “Abandoned” was taken by our team member Julia during a trip to Crete and tells the story of a village whose youth has been steadily migrating to the city for about 30 years. With the passing of the older generations, only the houses left behind, now in ruins, tell the story of the lives of the former inhabitants and thus the global phenomenon of rural exodus…
PA.bestpic March
Our favorite is from our team member Anna and bears the title “Place of Silence” – because the church you can see is located secluded on the small island of Blejski Otok in Slovenia’s Lake Bled. As there are no roads or ferries connecting it to the mainland, it can only be reached by rowing boat.
PA.bestpic February
Our winning entry is from our team member Anna and was taken earlier this year during our office trip to Copenhagen. It is entitled “Dialogue with Nature” – displaying the Opera Park København, designed by our colleagues at Cobe.
PA.bestpic January
Our favorite is from our youngest team member Mathilda and was taken earlier this year during our office trip to Copenhagen:
We look back on 20 years of exciting projects – many of which have already become valuable components of the city, while others have remained visions on paper.
To mark our anniversary, we are also dedicating ourselves to all those designs that tell the story of a different city but have remained UNBUILT…
Creative visions at prominent locations in Dortmund that would certainly have fundamentally changed the city in terms of its aesthetics and function. As diverse as the selection of typologies on display may be, they are united by their close connection to the eventful history of Dortmund as a Ruhr metropolis, with all its upheavals.
What if all these designs had become reality?
Go to Project: UNBUILT – Projects in Dortmund
Go to Publication: UNBUILT – Map Dortmund
We congratulate our team member Anna Waldmann on her thesis being awarded the aed neuland Prize 2025. The prize, which is awarded through a competition, is aimed at particularly talented young professionals in the field of design and is intended to promote innovative and sustainable design. In particular, it recognizes projects that are characterized by “the highest possible economic and ecological quality” while also focusing on people and social benefits.
“What we need most is housing and energy” – Genya Moore, Ukrainian architect
Since the start of the war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the country has suffered massive destruction. Millions of people have fled, cities have been devastated, and the energy supply has been destroyed. Inspired by her conversation with Genya Moore and her initiative “RE:LIFE UKRAINE,” Anna Waldmann wants to contribute to the reconstruction with her design: by combining living space and work. The focus here is on sunflower cultivation—as an economic foundation and a powerful symbol of hope and resistance. Blooming towards the sun stands for a new home, self-sufficiency, and a future in the western part of Ukraine.
Project title: RE-LIFE UKRAINE | blooming towards the sun
Master thesis at the Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart
Supervision: Prof. Ralf Petersen
(Photo: René Müller)
At the joint Lunch & Learn, we were able to exchange ideas about new switching systems in restaurants and residential buildings. Above all, the switch designs in Le Corbusier’s pastel shades made our architectural hearts beat faster. The JUNG team also provided delicious lunch bowls for the whole team – fantastic!
Wow! Our last office trip took us to Copenhagen and we were very impressed!
The well thought-out, sustainable urban development concepts and the successful mix of modern design and historical substance make the Danish capital a fascinating example of urban quality of life. We are particularly impressed by the open but urban atmosphere and the respectful treatment of space and nature and will certainly continue to accompany us in our work…
Tak & Hav det godt, København!*
*Thank you & farewell, Copenhagen!
We are delighted to announce that our project for the Mühlengrundquartier has been shortlisted for the German Urban Development Award 2025. The German Urban Development Award recognizes projects that set standards for sustainable urban development. The shortlisting recognizes the sustainable and innovative planning that makes the Mühlengrund district a liveable and sustainable place.
The Mühlengrundquartier stands for future-oriented urban development that both takes into account the needs of local people and meets the requirements of ecological and social urban development. With a successful mix of living and working spaces, public open spaces and a well thought-out infrastructure, the project makes an important contribution to urban development.
The award ceremony will take place according to the “Oscars” principle on July 25, 2025 at the Akademie der Künste on Pariser Platz in Berlin. It will be accompanied by a symposium on the topic of circularity and will highlight current relationships between urban development and social change. The nominated projects will also be presented in a nationwide traveling exhibition.
We are excited about the further development and look forward to the next steps in this important process!
On December 11, Ralf Petersen will be a guest at the Aula Magna of the University of San Marino at the invitation of the Faculty of Design at UNI.RSM. The talk will focus on projects by PETERSENARCHITEKTEN and their history, but also on the presentation of a new project by PA: resource-saving mobility in shallow waters – in the lagoon of Venice and other similar locations.
L’Università degli Studi della Repubblica di San Marino (UNI.RSM) stands for a future-oriented education at the interface of art, design and innovation. The Faculty of Design at UNI.RSM offers a unique, interdisciplinary platform that combines creativity and technical expertise. Students have the opportunity to learn in an inspiring environment characterized not only by international professors, but also by the architecture and cultural heritage of the Republic of San Marino.
