James Simon Gallery Berlin
Exposed concrete of the highest quality preformed or formed on site
The James Simon Gallery in Berlin was officially inaugurated at the beginning of 2020. The new construction of a central entrance building to the Museum Island, with reference to the adjacent historical museum buildings as a temple-like new building on a high base, similar to the Acropolis, presented a new major challenge in terms of building materials and construction services.
The sand-blasted prefabricated elements (exposed concrete: 4600m² SB4 walls, 3100m² SB4 ceilings) made of white cement with very coarse marble chippings were joined to the Spree, due to icy conditions and impact loads of the ships, with backfill concrete to form 30m long, stable but movable wall sections. For the visually identical courtyard façades, masonry façade wall discs 40m long and 7m high were created using a tongue and groove system for the bearing joint and grouting pockets.
In the development of this special construction method, individual solutions could be worked out with the tubag mortar competence. The Trass medium-bed mortar, Trass special brick mortar and the Trass joint mortar as a special formulation were then successfully used. This project was implemented by Dreßler Bau GmbH, which has had tubag at its side for many years as a reliable and innovative partner in the renovation of historical buildings and the reconstruction of cultural-historical buildings (e.g. Frauenkirche Dresden, Neues Museum Berlin).