Atelier Gardens, Berlin

Radical re-greening for people and wildlife

Atelier Gardens is the transformation of Berlin’s historic BUFA film studios into a six-acre creative campus dedicated to social and environmental change. The project reimagines what was once a predominantly concrete site as a thriving ecological environment and a global case study in circular, regenerative design.

Instead of stripping everything out and starting again, Harris Bugg Studio worked with what was already there, salvaging and reusing materials found on site, including concrete pavers, bricks, clay pipes and even ceramic toilets. These were crushed and repurposed to create planting media and mulches, forming the foundation of a richly diverse landscape now home to over 1o0 trees, 25,000 plants and 500 metres of vertical greening.

The result is a living campus that absorbs stormwater more effectively, prevents 900 tonnes of material from going to landfill, and replaces hard surfaces with green space. Today, 26% of the site is planted, making it a biodiverse, climate-resilient landscape that restores soil health through phytoremediation and supports both people and wildlife.

“Our long term programme of plant-driven landscape design at Atelier Gardens has created dynamic, restorative and magical new green spaces for people and wildlife.” – Hugo Bugg, Director

Awards

Press

Wallpaper*: Tour HAUS 1 at Atelier Gardens

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: The rebirth 

Collaboration

Team: MVRDV, HS Architekten, Drees & Sommer, Arup, Buro Happold, kpm3

Photography: Alister Thorpe