PROJECT STORY
The challenge
Building a modern heart of democracy for Brandenburg’s electorate in an iconic historic body demanded first class expertise in project management.
New building for Brandenburg state parliament
Innovation in form, function and organization
The solution
Intense and painstaking stakeholder coordination, combined with meticulous time and cost monitoring paved the way to the new prestigious parliament building in Potsdam.
The impact
Heart surgery successful: Brandenburg’s voters, the citizens of Potsdam and the political representatives embraced their new parliament right from the start. It was love at first sight.
138.5 Mio Euro
total investment
34,500 sqm
gross floorspace
The challenge
Apart from symbolizing the very cornerstone of democracy, parliament buildings serve as transparent hubs for political decision making. They are places where ballots cast by voting citizens are transformed into programs and strategies aimed to improve our societies. The Brandenburg State Parliament fell short of providing the representational, spatial, technical, infrastructural and functional requirements that come along with these demanding tasks. Both political decision makers and public opted for a bold move: A new, modern, state of the art parliament building, embedded in the historical accurately reconstructed facades of the prestigious “Potsdam City Palace”, which was destroyed in Second World War. The entire new building is supposed to be constructed and operated in public private partnership. There’s no off-the-shelf solution for project management of such an exceptional and ambitious architectural endeavor.
The solution
The objectives were ambitious: Historical accuracy of the building envelope, smart interior building technology, top energy efficiency with low CO2-footprint, economic focus in construction and operating phases with low tolerance for cost overruns, punctual completion and handover. Complexity and scale of the project demanded thoroughly structured and monitored design and tender procedures, contract management, construction monitoring and stakeholder coordination. Arcadis combined decades of XXL project management experience and excellent expertise in cooperation with public clients to get things done in Potsdam.
There’s no off-the-shelf-solution when it comes to projects like Brandenburg’s new parliament building. It’s really fulfilling when you notice your tailor-made project management model contributes substantially to punctual and cost efficient delivery.
The impact
You can tell that you accomplished your mission when even notorious sceptics among the citizens of Potsdam are proud of their new iconic parliament building. Barely three years after foundation stone ceremony, more than 22,000 people visited the premises on opening weekend. Response, reactions and reviews were overwhelmingly positive. Parliamentarians, delegates, representatives, and their visitors have ever since benefited substantially from the consistently user-oriented interior layouts, as well as collaboration-oriented technical equipment and infrastructure. Merging iconic historic architecture with sustainable and smart building technology proved to be the right strategy for the new and powerful heart of democracy in the Federal State of Brandenburg.
