Schneider + Schumacher - Germany
Westhafen Tower
Westhafenplatz 1, Frankfurt
2001 - 2003

At the Westhafen in Frankfurt Schneider + Schumacher realized an ensemble consisting of three buildings in the years 2001-2003. The Westhafen Tower, located in immediate neighborhoud to the Friedensbrücke, markes an important entrance to the city. With its cylindrical shape, the tower reminds historic Frankfurt city entrance towers such as Bockenheimer or Sachsenhäuser Warte. At the same time the tower with a height of 109 m is the symbol of the new city district Westhafen. The Westhafen Tower can also be regarded as pendent to the Main Plaza skyscraper, which was built at the end of the 1990s and served also as a landmark for a new city district. In its construction of the Tower resembles stacked, almost square elements, achieving two effects by a simple layering principle within the cylindrical facade. The circular plan of the exterior makes minimizes the facade surface, while the almost square floors enable simple plans. The superimposition of circle and square creates voluminous spaces, according to the floor slabs rotated by 90 ° resulting in up to 4-storey conservatories. These conservatories reduce the energy consumption of the building and allow the connection of superposed rental spaces, independent of the publicly available access areas. With its casements open, the facade resembles a spread feathers, through which the offices can be naturally ventilated. The faceting of the facade results in an appealing appearance depending on the weather and lighting conditions.