Siemens and the city are looking to bring life to the district with a mix of research and living space, including a school, hotel, some 2,700 residential flats, and the support of new transport infrastructure, all conceived in what is to be a mostly car-free, carbon-neutral zone. Berlin plans to restore use to a three-mile section of commuter rail, the “Siemensbahn,” which has been out of use since 1980; this will require either new bridge or tunneling works. The O&O plan envisions a centerpiece mixed-used 150-meter (490-feet) high-rise structure, though that was a point of contention in the jury deliberations.

All told it will be an ambitious venture for one of Germany’s premier engineering firms—indeed, the country’s fifth-largest company overall—and for the city-state of Berlin as together they seek to recharge an area of the capita that has colorful history in both industry and urban planning. The Siemensstadt, or Siemens City, took shape in the Spandau district of Berlin at the turn of the last century as the site of the company’s electric engineering factory works. It developed into a living and working area along the lines of new thinking in urban planning, moving away from the grim industrial zones of Manchester or Chicago. Its bordering residential estates were designed by prominent architects and urban thinkers such as Hans Scharoun, Otto Bartning and Walter Gropius.