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Designed   by Friedrich Stüler, the Neues Museum was the second of five museums to be built on Berlin’s Museum Island, now a world heritage site. It was completed in 1855 but was severely damaged in the Second World War and lay derelict for many years. After five years of meticulous work, costing  £ 210 Million, the Museum reopened in 2009.

 

The   task was defined by the architects as one of repair rather than restoration. Stüler’s interiors were highly decorated and any remaining fragments of the surviving fabric have been conserved. Large missing sections of the building have been infilled with new construction using precast concrete to distinguish it from the existing.

 

The   most dramatic interventions inevitably occur where wartime damage was greatest such as in the Egyptian Courtyard where sculptures will be displayed in eight vitrines beneath a flood of natural light. Only two walls of the courtyard are original and the other two have been constructed in reclaimed brick to match. The glass courtyard roof has a lattice structure of concrete beams supported on ten incredibly slender 24-metre high concrete columns. A free-standing platform divides the space in two vertically sheltering a 9-metre high gallery beneath.

 

All   the structural elements are precast concrete. The floor edge beams are L-shaped to support precast floor slabs which are left exposed to the spaces below. The columns and beams have been sandblasted so they have a matt, stone-like surface. In contrast, the floor is paved with the same concrete but with a polished finish so the stone aggregate is much more apparent.

 

 

Services   such as air supply ducts have been integrated into the new construction so as not to disturb the existing fabric. Air is supplied via bronze grilles set into the floors to rise and be extracted at roof level.

 

Around   the platform laminated glass balustrades extend up three metres to define a more intimate space within the larger volume. The edges of the glass are protected with bronze T-sections that frame each side of the space.

 

The   warm colour of the concrete tones with the buff brick walls, softening the light and making a serene centrepiece to the Egyptian collection.

 

 

 

 

Drawing labels :

 

1.     Basement floor     

60  mm concrete paving with sandblasted surface.  35 mm strips of mortar supporting paving.  Proprietary raised floor system with varying height void. Damp proof membrane turned up walls to finished floor level at perimeter. 1250 mm thick in-situ concrete floor slab.

 

2.     Basement wall    

150  mm precast concrete wall slabs with sandblasted surface, packed level on concrete plinth and fixed to in-situ wall with stainless steel ties. 40 mm cavity.  In-situ cast concrete structural wall from basement to ground level.

 

3.     Typical column    

500 x 500 mm precast concrete column with sandblasted faces.        

 

4.     Ground floor 

60 mm concrete paving with polished surface. 35 mm strips of mortar supporting paving.      Proprietary raised floor system with 250 mm height void. 170 mm precast concrete ceiling slab sandblasted on underside.        

 

5.     Ground floor edge beam 

775 mm high 500 mm wide 235 mm thick precast concrete edge beam with sandblasted faces spanning across ground floor columns. Thickness of beam widens to 500 mm at column positions to form continuous bearing for columns above.        

 

6.     New courtyard wall

380 mm (narrowing to 240 mm at high level) face brick wall to courtyard made from reclaimed bricks, free- standing and tied to ribs of the concrete wall with stainless steel ties.  350 mm cavity. 300 mm in-situ concrete structural wall with 330 x 160 mm vertical ribs. 90 mm cavity. 180 mm (150 mm above picture rail level) precast concrete wall panels with sandblasted surface fixed to concrete wall with stainless steel ties. Precast elements stand on the in-situ floor and on one another.        

 

7.     Wall opening

1270 mm deep 315 mm thick precast concrete jamb with polished faces fixed to concrete wall with stainless steel ties. 1270 mm deep 370 mm thick precast concrete lintel with polished faces supporting brickwork only bearing on jambs and fixed to jambs with stainless steel pins.

 

8.     Platform beams

500 x 495 mm precast concrete beams with sandblasted faces. Perimeter beams have 60 x 235 mm up stand at edge to conceal in-situ floor. 

 

9.     Platform floor 

60  mm concrete paving with polished surface. 35 mm strips of mortar supporting paving. Proprietary raised floor system with 350 mm height void. Composite ceiling made up from 80 mm precast concrete ceiling slabs sandblasted on underside spanning between beams with 150 mm in-situ concrete structural topping. In-situ concrete perimeter up stand to support balustrade. 500 x 490 mm precast concrete edge coping with sandblasted faces fixed to floor with stainless steel pins.        

 

10.     New exhibition rooms (Greek Hall) at second floor 60 mm concrete paving with polished surface.     

35 mm strips of mortar supporting paving. Proprietary raised floor system with 100 mm height void. Composite structural floor made up from 50 mm precast concrete ceiling slabs spanning between beams with 150  mm in-situ concrete structural topping.  480 mm void for services. Ceiling consisting of 80 mm thick sandblasted precast concrete ceiling slabs with 120 x 150 mm ribs spanning between beams, movable on rollers to allow access to services later. The gap between these elements is closed with 30 mm thick sandblasted precast concrete slabs or panels for lights and air grilles.

 

11.     Ground floor balustrade

1279  mm high 49 mm thick toughened and laminated glass panels with satin-treated surfaces, clamped in a 245 x 99 x 15 mm thick steel channel welded to 325 x 16 mm plate bolted to precast edge beam. 49 x 10 mm bronze fl at bar frame to three sides of glass with 10 x 3 mm central down stand to engage with recess in glass.        

 

12.     Platform balustrade

3400 mm high 49 mm thick toughened and laminated glass panels with satin-treated surfaces, clamped in a 364 x99 x 15 mm thick steel glazing support channel welded to 410 x 16 mm continuous steel plate bolted to edge of in-situ concrete up stand. 49 x 10 mm bronze fl at bar frame to three sides of glass with 10 x 3 mm central down stand to engage with recess in glass.        

 

13.     Air supply

20 mm thick cast bronze grating. 33 x 25 mm bronze angle frame for grating fixed to plenum channel. Galvanized steel plenum channel supplied by ductwork beneath raised floor.