It is a textbook example of Bauhaus functionalist architecture, both in the finished product and in the analytical and collaborative approach used to develop the design and complete the project.

Students from the building theory course and other areas of the Bauhaus were also involved with the design, construction and interior fitting of the complex.

[5] The school was built to train administrators and leaders of the trade union movement in subjects such as labour law, industrial hygiene, management and economics.

The complex included on-site accommodation and catering for both teaching staff and trainees, sports facilities and an outdoor swimming pool.

[6] The complex is a classic example of functionalist architecture and reflects Meyer's philosophy that buildings should be focused on meeting their users' specific needs.

[7] In Meyer and Wittwer's building theory classes students were taught to scientifically analyse both the client's requirements and the site conditions.

[2] In keeping with the Bauhaus philosophy of teaching via practical experience and working with industry, a number of students from the building theory course were involved in the project, including Arieh Sharon, Konrad Püschel, Philipp Tolziner [de], Lotte Stam-Beese, and Edmund Collein.

A long, glazed corridor runs from the entrance building, linking five three-storey blocks, four of which house the trainees' halls of residence; the fifth provides communal space.

Until the end of World War II it was used by the Reich Leadership School, for training leaders of the SS (Schutzstaffel), SD (Sicherheitsdienst) and Gestapo.

During the Nazi period and the Russian occupation the school had been extensively damaged, so long term repair work began.

[14] In 1977 the GDR government bestowed historic monument status on both the Meyer/Wittwer architecture and the Waterstadt building, although only the Meyer/Wittwer complex is part of the Bauhaus World Heritage site.

From August 1991 it was leased long term to the State of Brandenburg for use as a school of public administration, which opened in January 1992 following renovation work.

The centre, known in German as the Internat des Bildungszentrums der Handwerkskammer Berlin, has been in operation since 2007 when the major renovation project was completed.

[13] In 2008 the architects, Brenne Gesellschaft von Architekten, won the World Monuments Fund / Knoll Modernism prize for the restoration.

In 2012 the ADGB Trade Union School was proposed to be included on the World Heritage List; it was inscribed as part of the WHS Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau on 9 July 2017.