Outline Concept
“The proposed building is of a strong, visible identity for the European Central Bank and of a scale which can compete with the existing Grossmarkthalle. It reaches out over the Grossmarkthalle to the city in the north and to the south over the Riverside Park to the Main. The adjoining office and expansion modules transform the scale to the proposed adjoining city blocks. Beginning with the curved entry drive the complex offers a successive spatial and visual experience onto the covered Entry Court in the Grossmarkthalle, to the Central Hall in the new structure and further to the Riverside Park and the Main.

The garden is proposed as a great lawn, bordered on the east and west by significant woods. Towards the river are four reflecting pools that penetrate the new building with circular sky lights that allow light through the water down into the conference room and other below ground functions. 2 slabs of office space are connected by a covered Central Hall. At the south the slabs cantilever over the river. At the north they cantilever over the Grossmarkthalle connecting the buildings visually without touching.

The sequence of spaces changes from open to covered to enclosed. The offices offer views over the water, the river Main and the skyline of Frankfurt.

In the Grossmarkthalle, the Auditorium and the Visitor’s Centre are placed east and west of the Entry Court. The office modules are in the linear slabs, accessed by 4 elevator cores which front on to the Communicative Forum at every floor.

Modular expansion is accomplished by adding office slabs to the east end of the site, similar to the lT-modules on the west end, mirroring the bookends of the Grossmarkthalle head buildings.”