The Constructivist, Episode 5: Thomas Doll on why Berlin’s housing machine is stuck

In episode 5 of The Constructivist, Wulf von Borzyskowski speaks with Thomas Doll, Managing Partner of TREUCON Gruppe Berlin, about four decades of housing development in the capital, the resilience required to survive repeated market crises, and the structural reasons why so many projects stall before construction starts.

The conversation centres on a Berlin site acquired in 2018, with around 2,600 homes planned and still no building rights eight years later. Doll describes a system in which infrastructure decisions, planning processes and participation formats can delay projects for years, while the need for housing continues to grow.

Doll is not a technology optimist by default. That makes his conclusion more interesting: if housing is to become affordable again, the industry will need to change how it builds. The discussion turns to timber, robotics and the possibility of getting construction costs below EUR 2,000 per square metre.

Thomas Doll has led TREUCON Gruppe Berlin since 1999. The Berlin-based company has worked with almost all municipal housing companies in the city over more than 35 years, delivering around 145 projects with a total investment volume of approximately EUR 3.5 billion.