Kai-Uwe Bergmann
Partner
Bjarke Ingels Group, New York City

Volkmar Agthe
Managing Director
Tishman Speyer Properties, Frankfurt am Main

Sculptural Moves for Program Functionality

OMNITURM is a mixed-use high-rise with a striking new silhouette in the heart of Frankfurt’s financial district. The otherwise conventionally articulated and rational stack of inhabited floors takes an unexpected “shift of the hips,” creating a tower with sculptural moves that follow changes in its program.

Oriented towards a recently built public park, the first three floors are an extension of an outdoor pedestrian plaza. With high ceilings and commercial offerings, the floor plates shift back and forth to create terraces and outdoor arcades. Levels three through 15 accommodate offices and then, in the middle of the silhouette, the floor plates start sliding outwards in a spiraling movement. This section of the tower comprises residential units with terraces and overhangs that are offset from floor to floor, on all four sides of the building. The gently shifting floor plates follow the movement of the sun, allowing for optimized, bright outdoor spaces and improved views for residents. The upper part of the tower—level 23 and above—returns to offices, and there the silhouette also returns to the slender, straightforward tower block, rejoining the orientation of the floors below.

An intelligent combination of traffic management and access control produces maximum efficiency and meets the requirements of individual user groups in the building. As the high-rise building blends residential, commercial, cultural, entertainment, and office uses, its vertical transportation solutions are important for safety and privacy. OMNITURM’s high-performance lifts and transit management system identify authorized building users at the entrance via their smartphone or chip card. Optimal routes to the desired target floor are facilitated for them, and the assigned lift is summoned and waiting.

This awards category sponsored by: