Berlin's Museum for Architectural Drawing

This new gallery for architectural drawings, designed by German/Russian practice SPEECH Tchoban & Kuznetsov recently won the ar+d awards in the UK. It is a small 500m² gallery in Berlin, constructed in five above-ground tiers.

The key focus of this programme is in the constructional techniques that have resulted in the decorative concrete surface of the main walls: abstractionist motifs. So the gallery for drawings is itself a drawing.

Thanks to the thick concrete bearing walls and the absence of windows in the exhibition halls, the museum is capable of keeping its inside temperature and humidity (45%). This made the construction really energy-efficient: with the German consumption standard for new buildings being 290 kWt/h/sqm per year, it only consumes 50 kWt/h/sqm per year.

Key learning points:

• The value of drawing in architectural design processes
• How the etched concrete facing was made
• Passive environmental conditions
• Constructional detailing
• Materials quality and workmanship.

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