Innovation Award Architecture - AIT, and xia, Technology of the architecture magazines, 2009.
This office block, built in 1972, offers a large built volume in one of the most sought-after residential and office districts of Frankfurt. We have only retained its structure. Thanks to a decentralized air conditioning system, a bespoke development for this project, we have improved the room heights of the newly created interiors. They have become modern, flexible office areas. A modern rendered façade with rhythmic aluminium window bands connects the building to its surroundings. The building’s corporate identity is strengthened by the construction of a glazed ground-floor area. Using the huge former technical rooms, a large two-story conference room and the generous "Sky Lounge" on the 7th and 8th floor offer space for meetings and events.
The central design element, which can be found both inside and out, now forms anodized aluminum sheets with vertically oriented slots. These slots form a pattern that makes reference to the history of the building, whose former users were always banks. The pattern represents the Friday closing prices of the stock indices DAX, Dow Jones and Nikkei during the existence of the building (implemented in binary code).