Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
1 / Introduction
This important international memorial lies on an undulating site in the historic centre of Berlin between the Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz. The extraordinary project to construct a Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe involved a team of multi disciplinary engineers from Buro Happold, providing structural engineering, building services and site infrastructure.
The Memorial consists of 2,711 concrete stelae, each uniquely planned to form a wave like field over an area that covers more than 19, 000m². In order to supply the required number of stelae of the desired quality and within budget, the project team had to develop a meticulous and innovative production process similar to those used by manufacturing industries. Different sizes of stelae and construction methods were sampled in order to find a finished product that met the architect’s design brief.
In addition to the field of Stelae, located below ground to the south east corner of the site, is an “Ort of Information”, a centre where visitors can learn about the injustices and wrongs inflicted on the European Jewish population during the 1930s and 40s.
The Ort posed structural challenges; the ceiling is curved to follow the undulations of the ground above it and the structure also must be capable of supporting the load of the stelae and their foundations. It is also submerged in ground water and therefore requires permanent anchoring.
Buro Happold also carried out the building services on the project. The Ort of Information presented particular challenges, given its subterranean location arising from a lack of sufficient space for technical equipment and distribution networks. Air intake shafts and chimneys are designed to be unobtrusive. The primary plant room space is located underneath the main entrance stairway and houses central ventilation units. Air handling units in the raised floor cool and climatically control the space.
A further technical challenge was to make the Ort a safe environment in the event of a fire. To achieve this, in an emergency, all entrance doors open automatically to allow fresh air inside, while smoke is naturally ventilated through ceiling grilles which are hidden from view.
Buro Happold was responsible for the design process of the integrated solutions to bring about this important international memorial.
Key facts
- Roof of subterranean information centre undulates to follow rise and fall of ground above
- Sensitive and moving memorial achieved through multidisciplinary engineering
- Heaviest stele weighs around 16 tons
Related Disciplines
The Project Details
Client: Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas
Architect: Eisenman Architects, New York
Buro Happold services: Building services, structural engineering, infrastructure engineering