Outline Concept
“The location of the new ECB premises on the site of the former ’Grossmarkthalle‘ creates a link between the history of trading and the new financial heart of the European Monetary Union.

The new landmark is an elevated platform floating above the green belt around the city of Frankfurt.

The flexible modular structure enables communication and short connections within a horizontal hierarchy, open for future expansion.

A forest of pine trees is the connecting elements between the urban edges, the river and the new solitary building. Slender pines (Pinus silvestris), typical for the European forest carry their translucent canopies 25 to 30 meters above the ground, leaving light enough for flowering plants to grow underneath them.

The perforated shadow of the ECB building wanders across the circumscribing fields and the reflecting pool beneath it. So do the shadow of the surrounding pine forest.

For acoustic, climatic and security reasons the building is contained within a glass skin.

The offices are located at the outer double facade or to the winter gardens. This enables a considerable degree of natural ventilation within the office: a reason why the heating and ventilation costs will by less than conventional office buildings.”