Crane Cabin at Osthafen

Aligning with the existing storehouses the four-star “nhow Berlin” Music and Lifestyle Hotel by the Spanish nh-group is located between the River Spree to the south and Stralauer Allee to the north containing 310 rooms and two restaurants, a convention center with a ballroom, a spa area and an underground car park.

The structure of the building and the façade design reflect the special location of the building. A huge cantilevered cube cites the motif of a crane cabin, whereas the façade’s surface mingles into the ubiquitous brown stone materiality at the formerly important city harbor of Osthafen. The volume accommodates seven floors divided into two blocks, each forming an open U-shape onto the water and connected via a glass interstice. The western block is topped by four additional floors in a separate volume overpeering the banks. Here the exclusive nhow suite gives access to the roof terrace and offers optional access to an in-house sound studio, cantilevered on about seventy feet and hovering eighty feet above the water.

On street level a floor-to-ceiling glass band with large-size panels distinguishes the hotel from the neighboring old storehouses. The façade zone above is formed by a perforated brick coat with irregularly arranged square windows. The brick chosen varies in color as well as in its line-up, adding a vivid optical brigo to the massive volume by its irregular surface. The top levels (7th to 10th floor) wear a highly reflective aluminum cladding and allow splendid views to the southwestern skyline of the city through an all-glass double façade.

In December 2011 the building was awarded the Immobilien Award Berlin 2011 and was shortlisted for the International Hotel and Property Awards 2014 by Design et al.