Building in the 21st century - In May 1999 architects Petzinka & Pink won the competition for the new North-Rhine Westphalia State Representative Office in Berlin with their design "Ecological and resource-conserving building at the start of the 21st century".

Pioneering energy concept - Even during the competition, Drees & Sommer the architects in developing a holistic energy concept based on a highly-efficient cogeneration plant based on solar and geothermal energy.

Building for the environment - In order to reduce building loads, Drees & Sommer used numeric airflow simulations to develop an economical and ecological ventilation concept for winter gardens and atrium. Intake air is preheated as it passes over a 175-meter long geothermal heat exchanger. In parallel, a fuel-cell block-type thermal power station (BTTP) combined with a micro gas turbine ensure that the basic thermal and electrical load is met. Expensive district heating is only used to meet peak demand.