THE NEW MAIN ENTRANCE OF TABAKFABRIK BUILDING 1:
Starting from this autumn, Tabakfabrik will have spectacular new main entrance. Brand new graphic depictions give us the first, exclusive look at the future entrance area, which will open up on to the inner Tabakfabrik courtyard in the form of a piazza about 600 m² in size, an inviting, contemporary version of the Spanish Steps in Rome.
The wide sitting steps, al fresco cafés, relaxation areas and open spaces make the centrally-situated Piazza del Belmondo a perfect meeting spot, outdoor dining area, marketplace, catwalk and open-air hang-out. But above all, it is a place for potent installations that transform social upheaval into upward thrust, that encourage, and that, with projections of a future full of hope, fuel the belief in the creation of a kinder, more beautiful world – Belmondo. Golden letters above the new main entrance are to proclaim the start of a new Gründerzeit [age of innovation]. Artistic installations and interventions will be able to be set up on the porch roof bordering the Piazza del Belmondo.
An open-air stage, offering space for various types of events, leads from Piazza del Belmondo over a spacious vestibule in the redesigned foyer area, an opening 30 m² in length between the ground floor of Building 1 and the inner courtyard of Tabakfabrik that allows wheelchair access and acts as a landmark to significantly improve orientation around the complex. Visitors sitting on the elevated steps can look at Tabakfabrik from a new angle and gaze out across the entire complex.
The outdoor stage also marks the beginning of the ‘Behrens Belt’. “With regard to the logistical logic of the complex, there is one significant trait of Tabakfabrik that needs to be appropriately considered, one that once formed the spinal cord in the nervous system of the industrial plant and today – in honour of its creator – has been named the Behrens-Band [Behrens Belt]: the central inner link, formed as a logistical ring road internally linking all the buildings clustered around the courtyard, enabling a kilometre-long tour of the entire architectural complex, will be retained as a key feature for posterity. Incorporating the concept of a production belt into the complex, tenants and the public will be able to follow the Behrens Belt from Building 2, through the warehouse and Building 1 right to Building 3. The unifying Behrens Belt is the architectural ‘incarnation’ of the substantive concept behind Tabakfabrik and therefore ideally predisposed as a unique selling feature,” says Chris Müller, Director of Tabakfabrik.
The Behrens Belt also creates spaces for Tabakfabrik tenants to network. From the open-air stage, it leads like a golden carpet through the new main entrance, first of all onto the ground floor of Building 1 where it forms the networking and communications hub. Once the renovations are completed, this area is to become Tabakfabrik’s cosy own living room, featuring a central service/information centre, event space, pop-up mall and more in a space of around 5,000 m² in size.