berlin alexanderplatz

	A new hub in the British Council network

Our new office is the first in the British Council network in Europe designed to support our new Europe strategy.

It is not, as British Council offices used to be, about showcasing the UK. Located in the recently refurbished Berolinahaus, designed by Ian Gunter of Amalgam and fitted out by Hochtief for our new landlord, it is all about networking.

The Berolinahaus stands alongside the Alexanderplatz transport hub. InterCityExpress trains snake below our windows on one side; on the other Alexanderplatz continues to change before our eyes. This is a “Schnittstelle”, a key point of intersection within Europe. Working here causes us daily to reflect on how recent history can be, and how significant the British Council's new vision is of building next generation Europe.

Our new office demonstrates confidence in our Europe strategy, our future in Europe and indeed the future of Europe.

The significant thing about our Europe strategy is that the British Council is not only maintaining its presence in virtually every country in Europe, but is taking the idea of Europe seriously, and extending it to the European neighbourhood.

We've nailed our colours to the mast. Working with Redpath Design, we've linked the mission and vision statements of our Europe strategy to the key ideas in the Berlin Declaration, signed by European heads of government in March 2007 on the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. Its final words – "Europe is our common future" – are repeated throughout our office in all 23 official EU languages, in recognition of the fact that we are working regionally, and are welcoming colleagues and contacts from all over Europe to our new office.

Our new office is built around a networking hub, with flexible meeting space on one side and open plan office space on the other. It came to life with our recent Network Effect conference on the changing demographics of Europe, an example of the British Council bringing together next generation influencers from across Europe to discuss issues which are critical to our common future.

The bottom-line driver for relocating in Berlin was to save money. We could not have afforded to remain in our seven-storey building at Hackescher Markt. But far more importantly, we have a much better working environment and a purpose-built platform for delivering our Europe strategy. Our job is no longer running a cultural institute, but redefining cultural relations for the 21st century.