The new Berlin Fire Department and Rescue Services Academy campus will be built on the former Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) site, where the last plane took off in 2020. It will provide about 50,000 square meters for training and continuing professional development of firefighters, rescue and emergency medical staff. Two listed hangars and other existing buildings will be renovated, and new buildings and outdoor training facilities will be added. 

In a growing capital city and amid continuously evolving technologies, the Berlin fire department requires a future-proof location providing sufficient space for state-of-the-art theoretical and practical training. This is exactly what the new campus situated on the city’s northern outskirts will offer. 

In a tendering process (VgV-Verfahren), HENN designed a new academy building based on an urban development concept conceived by kleyer.koblitz.letzel.freivogel and KUULA. The new build functions as the institution’s communicating center to bring together instructors and trainees. Its height and the restrained, deliberately “technical” appearance of the façade allow the new build to blend harmoniously into its surroundings and to mediate between old and new. Its two-story entrance zone replicates the ascending topography to connect different levels and several outdoor areas, including the campus square and a canteen terrace offering views across a grove. 

At the heart of the new build is a centrally located, light-filled atrium that interlinks all stories, establishes sightlines and promotes synergies within the building. It serves as a place to meet for knowledge sharing and informal encounters. The spacious lobby provides trainees and instructors with access to a canteen with an outdoor terrace, a dining hall, and a café. The integrated auditorium can also be used for larger events. The upper stories accommodate offices and training rooms whose clearly structured layout allows for flexible uses. 

The academy building’s proposed hybrid-timber structure remains visible inside; it is further emphasized by a fire-engine red staircase in the atrium. The new build is designed as a low-tech structure whose simple, long-lasting components reduce the need for building services while increasing resource efficiency. Photovoltaic panels will be installed on the east and west façades and on the rooftop to generate electricity. 

Besides the academy building, new structures will be built to accommodate sports and training facilities as well as vehicle depots. In addition, HENN will renovate the listed buildings located on-site, including two hangars dating back to the 1960s and 1970s whose impressively large, clear-span halls provide space for replicating operational scenarios that can be used regardless of weather conditions. This is where houses resembling residential buildings will be available for training purposes. The outdoor area will accommodate regional and suburban trains for operational training, as well as practice tracks for driving fire engines. 

The new Berlin Fire Department and Rescue Services Academy campus will support a state-of-the-art, efficient Berlin firefighting service while strengthening its crucial role within the city. As part of transforming the derelict airport site into a place of innovation referred to as the Urban Tech Republic, a venue with a distinct sense of identity will be created to give the firefighting and rescue services a new public presence in the city.