By offering a variety of programs, the strip will become a vivid mixed-use neighborhood which is not really common for furniture retail areas. Whereas the big boxes themselves contain Höffner, Sconto, a parking garage and offices, there’s a lot of possible uses in the surrounding shells which will primarily host housing but also offices, shops, restaurants/cafes and a kindergarten. Despite that urban mix of uses, the majority of the ground floor will still be green and thus create lots of open spaces. The greenery is designed in a forest-like way, meaning only minimal interventions, for example by building an alley for pedestrians and cyclists which is connected to the other clusters of Pankower Tor as well as to Granitzstraße, the Lokschuppen and – via a new pedestrian bridge – to S-Bahn station Pankow Heinersdorf.

Additionally there’s a square in the triangle between the three big boxes which leads pedestrians from the parking garage to the entrances of the furniture stores and will serve of course also as a central meeting point for the residents with shops, restaurants and the kindergarten. Small paths go around the boxes and lead the residents to their homes. Since the area along Prenzlauer Promenade is very noise-polluted anyway, it is obviously the best location both for the truck-loading as well as the self-loading. The road to the parking garage leads far around the vivid places, which guarantees minimal disturbance of the open air life.