The Highdeck Siedlung is a 1970s social housing complex located on a 33 hectare site in south-east Berlin, directly on the West side of the former border between East and West Berlin. The 2500 homes, shopping centre and living facilities for the elderly were built to provide a large quantity of affordable homes in a short period of time with modular concrete construction efficiency.

Designed and built after the completion of a number of large 1960s housing estates in Berlin such as the high-rise Gropiusstadt and the Märkisches Viertel estates, Oefelein and Freund based their competition-winning entry on a series of evenly spaced low-rise terraced building pairs, connected to each other and the main street with elevated bridges, decks and walkways, known as the Highdecks. Pedestrian streets in the sky, reminiscent of several 1960s UK urban planning solutions and the London Pedway scheme.

The young architects Oefelein and Freund were commissioned by the Berlin state-owned housing association “Stadt und Land'' to adjust their design to suit the Coignet prefabricated concrete panel system, and were asked to remove the terracing, and were limited to exposed aggregate concrete or wall tiles as options for external finishes. The architects decided on an exposed concrete finish, fearing that any wall tiling would fail over time, and added variety and colour with the window framing.

The elevated Highdecks doubled as carports underneath and were designed to become active communication zones for shared activity, and places for kids to play. They were a street in the sky, allowing people to get to the bus stop or go shopping without having to interact with cars or traffic. The decks, flanked by apartment buildings, were separated by large quiet green areas that the apartments overlooked.

Today, much of the community activity that the decks were intended for is no longer permitted, mainly due to noise and use conflicts which have increased over the years.  The road and parking areas under the decks became dark and unloved spaces, leading to criticism of the planning concept.

Attempts have been made to add colour to the bare concrete over the years. Vonovia, one of Germany's largest private housing associations, acquired the estate in 2019 and are beginning to carry out essential repairs.  Ideally, the use and activation of the Highdecks will be brought back to life and bring people from all ages and backgrounds together, as the architects originally planned.

The Highdeck Siedlung was placed under heritage protection by the Landesdenkmalamt Berlin in 2020 (last updated on May 7, 2024).

Special thanks to Felix Oefelein