Pan Nordic Building

The Nordic Embassies in Berlin are the diplomatic missions of the Nordic countries to Germany, located in a common building complex, the Pan Nordic Building, in Berlin. The building complex was designed by the architects Alfred Berger and Tiina Parkkinen and completed in 1999.


The Felleshus / Pan Nordic Building, which is open to the public, combines the security, working and representation functions of all five embassies of the Nordic Countries. The countries of northern Europe and their autonomous territories are often referred to as the Nordic countries. They include Denmark, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Åland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The Faroe Islands and Greenland belong to Denmark. Åland is part of Finland.
The house also serves as central passageway to the embassies.

The name »Felleshus« (Danish) denotes the sense the building imbues and what it is used for – a house for all, a house in which to meet and interact. The Felleshus has an auditorium for concerts, readings, film viewings and conferences, exhibition spaces, conference rooms, a spacious terrace and a public canteen.

The facade of the building is panelled with maple wood. The entrance opens up in the form of a centrally placed glass front as high as the building. The glass-roofed entrance hall spans all floors and is flanked by slender columns. On the second floor an extensive exhibition area and the terrace open up. On the next floor is the Nordic canteen.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the German Parliament's resolution to relocate the capital from Bonn to Berlin, the often considered idea of a common Nordic embassy complex was able to be realised. The vision of five national embassy office buildings with one common building open to the public, the Felleshus / Pan Nordic Building, enclosed by a band of copper, corresponded to the fundamental idea of individual freedom, combined with a feeling of unity.

The almost 230 metres long and 15 metres broad copper band is the distinguishing feature of the design of Berger and Parkkinen. It consists of approximately 4,000 pre-patinated lamellas and gives the complex a unified appearance from the outside.

The area inside the copper band, the plaza, is transected by geometric lines. The area within these lines forms the plaza, and the sides of the four intersecting lane strips are defined by the sides of the buildings. The lane strips form streets between the individual embassy buildings. Three water basins between the buildings are an architectural reference to the connecting seas between the Nordic countries.

The embassy buildings, in turn, are grouped to correspond to the arrangement of the countries on the map.

Architects:

• Complex and Felleshuse - Berger and Parkkinen;
• Denmark - 3XN
• Iceland - PK Hönun;
• Norway - Snøhetta;
• Sweden - Wingårdh Arkitektkontor;
• Finland - Viiva Arkkitehtuuri Oy;