Outline Concept
“The concept for the new headquarters of the ECB in Frankfurt aims to lend appropriate urban and architectural form to this European conception. The model draws its inspiration from the Greek agora and the Roman forum: together with the existing hall individual building types and buildings with unique characteristics constitute an ensemble loosely grouped around a square. Slightly raised above city level by a plinth in the south and a water basin in the north, the ensemble appears to be set out on a plateau: the model ECB.

The Large Foyer, the existing hall, forms the centrepiece. Splendidly superelevated by the ‚outlying‘ water basins, this former industrial building aptly presents the ECB's momentous significance to the north. It is here that the main entrance and approach, which cut through the reflecting water surface, are located. The agora begins inside the hall, creating an open Large Foyer looking out onto the square. Small buildings form the transition to the diverse secured areas and to a large building, designed to create a profound impression of depth, for visitors: the treasure chamber. One side of the hall will contain shops and a large restaurant for visitors; the restaurant looks out onto the water and the New Park.

The complex creates a very different impression from the south - the main side. Here, different types of buildings are placed alongside and behind one another. And although they create a very heterogeneous impression, they nonetheless form a coherent whole. The existing hall creates a backdrop against which the new buildings dominate:

The buildings speak a common architectural language. And even though their ‚dialects‘ vary, they nevertheless communicate through their shared materiality – the glass and concrete linking the new buildings with the hall.”