Part of:

People:

Kuwabara Payne Mckenna Blumberg Architects (archive creator)

Title:

Canadian Embassy, Berlin, Germany (1999-2005)

Date:

1998-2000

Level of archival description:
Project

Extent and medium:

2,315 drawings (including 26 reprographic copies and 123 printouts)
1 model

Scope and content:
This project series documents the Canadian Embassy in Berlin, Germany from 1999-2005. The office identified the project number as 9903.

This project consisted of a new embassy building for Canada in the reunified German capital located at the junction of Leipziger Platz and Potsdamer Platz. The embassy was built in joint venture with Gagnon Letellier Cyr Architects and Smith Carter Architects and Engineers. The firms were selected for the project by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade after a national competition was held. The competition jury had chosen a different design, by architecture firm Saucier + Perrotte.[1] The embassy, built to follow the original octagonal wall of Leipziger Platz, had a stone exterior punched with windows, as dictated by the District Office of Central Berlin's guidelines.[2] It occupied the first four floors of the Leipziger Platz block and all floors of the Ebertstrasse block. Inside, the Focus Canada Centre off the Ebertstrasse entrance served as the central government information centre and included interactive kiosks. The Embassy Reception Hall, complete was an Inuksuk at its entrance, was a space that greeted guests and provided consular services. The Canada Lounge defined the ground floor and provided a space where visitors could engage with Canadian news through newspapers, radios and televisions. The cylindrical Great Timber Hall pierced through the embassy. This wood-lined space had a sky-light ceiling to allow natural light to flow inside and served as an executive meeting room and a space for special guests, entertainment, events and exhibits. Retail spaces were also provided along Vossstrasse and a residential component made up the upper floors of Leipziger Platz.

The project is recorded through a model and drawings dating from 1998-2000. The large part of these drawings are sketches, but plans, elevations, sections, perspectives and details are also included.

[1] Adele Weder, "A Berlin Chronicle," The Canadian Architect, June 20, 1999, 20-21.
[2] "Canadian Embassy Berlin." KPMB. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://www.kpmb.com/project/canadian-embassy-berlin/

Reference number:

AP056.S1.1999.PR01

Arrangement:
Materials in this project series were compiled from multiple accessions and some were arranged by material type.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer:

Gift of Kuwabara, Payne, McKenna, Blumberg Architects, Gagnon Letellier Cyr Architects, and Smith Carter Architects and Engineers on 22 December 2004.

Location:

Berlin Germany