The real estate company CA Immo, in cooperation with the city of Frankfurt, has launched an architectural competition for the so-called Millennium-Areal in the Europaviertel. The aim of the competition is to develop a mixed-use building ensemble with two high-rise buildings and a perimeter block development with a total gross floor area of around 185,000 square metres. The competition site, which measures around 8,700 square metres, is centrally located not far from the main railway station between Hohenstaufenstrasse and Osloer Strasse on the western edge of the banking district.
The city and CA Immo have concluded an urban development agreement for the development of the site. This envisages a high, urban mix of uses for the site, including apartments, office space, a hotel and a daycare centre, as well as complementary restaurant, retail, service and leisure space.
Deputy Planning Officer Mike Josef says: "It is good that after 20 years the site on the edge of the Europaviertel and Messe is coming up for development. I wish that the competition result with the two high-rise buildings will be an asset for Frankfurt and its skyline. That is why we attach great importance to a competition procedure that does justice to this significance. After all, the towers will help shape the city skyline and complement the high-rise cluster at the trade fair in terms of urban development. In addition to the question of functional and social mixing, sustainability is important to us. Mixed public uses throughout the base areas of the high-rise buildings as well as a viewing platform will enliven the surrounding area. The total of around 500 apartments contribute to the liveliness of the quarter. 200 of them are publicly funded, both in funding path one and funding path two."
Matthias Schmidt, Managing Director CA Immo Germany and Head of Project Development, added: "We want to implement a project with international appeal here. This applies equally to the architecture, the lively mix of uses and, in particular, the demand for sustainability. That's why we set ambitious goals for energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy sources and CO2 reduction in the competition brief. With a height of around 260 metres, we want to develop not only Germany's tallest building, but also Germany's most sustainable office tower."
Lively, diverse and urban mix of uses
The building concept developed by CA Immo envisages the construction of a perimeter block development with six storeys and possibly. A staggered floor and two high-rise towers with a height of about 260 and about 150 meters. A special feature is that the first three floors of the high-rise buildings and the first two floors of the perimeter block development are to be reserved for public use. The residential construction with a total of approx. 500 residential units - of which 200 apartments will be implemented within the framework of development paths 1 and 2 - is to be accommodated exclusively in the perimeter block development and in the approx. 150 metre high tower. In the perimeter block development, a 4-group daycare center with a 600 m² outdoor area is also to be built on a gross floor area of around 1000 m². The hotel and office space are planned in the approximately 260 meter high tower. A public viewing platform with gastronomic offerings is also to be built here. Other public uses, such as restaurants, Cafés, retail or also cultural offers up to medical practices and services of the everyday need are planned in the public areas of the buildings. The ensemble itself is to be openly designed and in the ground floor area, by means of public passageways and plaza spaces, is to be interconnected with its urban environment in a variety of ways.
Sustainability with ambitious objectives
As with all CA Immo project developments, this ensemble is also being consistently developed as a green building, taking into account strict sustainability criteria. The company has set itself ambitious goals in this regard. These include an innovative energy concept through which a large proportion of the primary energy required by the buildings is to be generated from renewable sources directly in or on the building, among other things through the use of large-scale photovoltaic systems in the facades of the high-rise buildings and through the storage and use of internal heat sources in the buildings. When it comes to the materials used, importance is attached to ensuring that their extraction and processing meet recognised ecological and social standards. They should bind as little "grey energy" as possible, cause low operating expenses for cleaning and maintenance, have the longest possible service life and be highly deconstructible and recyclable. CA Immo has already carried out extensive preliminary studies on all aspects of sustainability, the results of which were presented to the participants in the architectural competition as objectives and concrete planning guidelines. With this in mind, CA Immo has set itself the goal of achieving the CO2 reduction targets of the Federal Republic of Germany for the year 2045 for construction, operation and induced mobility by the time the ensemble is completed. In addition, the specifications of the current EnEV are to be undercut by at least 30%.
The sustainability of the project is not only measured in the energy efficiency of the building, but also in the high diversity of the use of space, in order to be able to react flexibly to changing market demands. The project is to be certified with the Platinum Seal of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) and the WELL Building Institute respectively.
High-profile architectural competition
Eight renowned international, national and local architectural firms have been invited to participate in the architectural competition, which has now been launched. These include 3XN Architects (Copenhagen, DK), David Chipperfield Architects (London/Berlin, UK/D), Cobe (Copenhagen, DK), Ferdinand Heide Architekt (Frankfurt, D), Herzog & de Meuron, (Basel, CH), Ingenhoven Architects (Düsseldorf, D), OMA (Rotterdam, NL), Schneider + Schumacher Architekten (Frankfurt, D). The competition is expected to conclude with the jury meeting at the end of January 2021.
