Post by Buro Happold

We are celebrating the completion of the John Jahr Haus in Berlin. Located on Kurfürstenstraße, this 70-metre, 17-storey building establishes a new architectural landmark at the gateway to Berlin’s City West. The mixed-use ensemble combines modern office space, residential units, and retail and hospitality spaces, while making a meaningful contribution to sustainable urban development. At Buro Happold, we are proud to have delivered the building services engineering for this forward-looking project. Our approach focused on maximum flexibility, high efficiency and long-term sustainability performance. Our key contributions and highlight for this project were: • Flexible building services design based on a modular grid, enabling all office layouts – from open-plan to cellular to conference rooms • Efficient, scalable utility systems to support future adaptability • Intelligent charging and load management for 100% EV-ready parking spaces The building sets new benchmarks in sustainability (DGNB pre-certification: Platinum) highlights of which include: • 97% of energy sourced from renewable systems (district heating) • Approx. 11,000 kWh of annual electricity generation via photovoltaics • 100% low-emission, environmentally responsible materials • 70% water savings through sensor-controlled fixtures • 150+ bicycle parking spaces, the majority equipped with electric charging points • 100% compliant with the German Building Energy Act (GEG), achieved through optimised energy demand, a high-performance building envelope and efficient building services systems Through close, collaborative working with all project partners from the competition stage onwards, we delivered a solution that balances commercial viability with sustainability – enabling future adaptations without additional carbon-intensive construction. A big thank you to all partners involved: Jahr Grundbesitz GmbH & Co. KG, HAMBURG TEAM, Barkow Leibinger Architects and everyone who contributed to this successful project. Find out more on our project page: https://buro.im/4fptchf Images: Jonas Holthaus #JohnJahrHaus #Berlin #CityWest #BuildingServices #Engineering #Sustainability #SustainableDesign #DGNB #GreenBuilding #BuroHappold #EngineeringExcellence #FutureReadyBuildings