The new building is conceived as a slender, rectangular volume along the Scheidemannstrasse. By positioning the building away from the street a spacious forecourt has been created, which provides visitors with an arrival space from where there is an impressive view of the parliament buildings.
The different levels are combined in a single structure encircled by a ring of slender columns. With its transparency and openness, the building merges visually with the surrounding Tiergarten park.
The colonnade references the classical Greek temple and its definition of public space. However, here, the typology is given a contemporary interpretation and is abstracted. With its transparency and permeability, the light-filled hall eludes to a modern concept of democracy.
Rather than being a massive, masonry edifice, the visitors’ centre is a light pavilion surrounded by the greenery of the Tiergarten.
The building is organised on three programmatically distinct levels, which are connected by a broad staircase.
While the first floor serves to filter the stream of visitors, the upper floor, a light-filled hall, offers generous views of the Reichstag building and the Platz der Republik.