Architects: KSP Jrgen Engel Architekten

Location: s.Oliver-Strae 1, Gewerbegebiet

Industrieplan, 97228 Rottendorf, Germany
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: Jean-Luc Valentin

From the architect. The buildings restrained formal language serves as

a projection surface for the s.Oliver world of fashion and large display
windows present this inner world. The vertical access via a spectacular
oval staircase with open galleries is the focal point of the building.

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Jean-Luc Valentin

Colored furniture serves as an eye catcher and highlights the informal

meeting points. In line with the way the building is structured, different
finishes such as stone, wood and fabric are used.

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Section

Jean-Luc Valentin
 Jean-Luc Valentin

Jean-Luc Valentin

Jean-Luc Valentin

Jean-Luc Valentin

Jean-Luc Valentin

Jean-Luc Valentin

Jean-Luc Valentin

Plan

Site Plan

Architects: Petersen Architekten

 Location: Friedrichstrae 40, 10969 Berlin, Germany
Architects: Petersen Architekten
Client: ANH Hausbesitz GmbH & Co.KG
Area: 1640.0 sqm
Photographs: Jan Bitter

From the architect. The parcel of Friedrichstrasse 40 is located in the

southern Friedrichvorstadt, a place inhabited over the years by men of
letters and artists which interfuses with the cultural development of its
environment.

The parcel was first built with a 2-storey house, later with a multi-storey
house, densely occupying the parcel within a front and back building.
Here lived the Skadamowski brothers, considered the inventors of the
3D eyeglasses and the cinematics in Germany. Not far from the
Friedrichstasse, lies various cultural interest points liek the former
border inspection point "checkpoint Charlie".

Friedrichstrasse has here a clearly urban character, with a floor surface

that resembles a large garden. The Friedrichstrasse front facade is
technically precise and perfectly transparent with vertical glass lamellas
to protect against heating and oriels up to two stories.

These are used to help link the house to the environment, making an
urban statement. Sun protection is provided by twisted textile materials.
In the interior, you will find a mix of glass, wood and textiles. Here, city
and garden interweave. Sustainability in construction and technology
are already pre-certified with the GOLD award of the DGNB German
Sustainable Building Council

Architects: J. Mayer H. Architects

Location: Hamburg, Germany
Architects: J. MAYER H. Architects
Architect On Site: Imhotep, Donachie und Blomeyer
Sturctural Engineers: Lydia Thiesemann, CBP
Light Engineers: Andres Lichtplanung
Landscape Architects: Breimann & Bruun
Building Services: Energiehaus, Sineplan
Area: 5436.0 sqm
Project Year: 2007
Photographs: fotografieSCHAULIN, Hiepler Brunier, Dirk
Fellenberg & Schraubverschluss

from the architect. The building site is situated at the intersection

between the Hamburgs lively downtown and its urban landscape rich in
water and mature trees. It is at the transition from city to nature, and the
gateway building to the bustling metropolitan core

The horizontal striped facade with its floating eyes celebrates the view
onto this unique context. A public park in front of the building continues
the design strategy of the facade into the landscape. The eyes in the
facade and the platforms in the park form places to meet and
contemplate.

The office spaces serve both a generic spatial layout and specific
moments related to the eyes. Large spans provide for various office
layout configurations in combination with balconies and climatically
tempered outdoor spaces of the eyes.

The office building An der Alster 1 links interior and exterior spaces to
the public park in front of the building and to the city context of
Hamburg, becoming a new anchor at the prestigious Aussenalster
waterfront.

Headquarters schlaich bergermann und

partne
Architects: Ippolito Fleitz Group GmbH
Location: Schwabstrae 43, 70197 Stuttgart, Germany
Design Team: Peter Ippolito, Gunter Fleitz, Tilla
Goldberg, Christian Kirschenmann, Jakub Pakula, Stefanie
Maurer, Sherief Sabet, Markus Schmidt, Daniela Schrder
Area: 2500.0 sqm
Project Year: 2011
Photographs: Zooey Braun r / Ippolito Fleitz
Group GmbH
From the architect. Schlaich Bergermann und partner is an engineering
firm with a global reputation, known above all for its stadiums, bridges
and energy concepts. The firm has offices in Berlin, New York and So
Paulo in addition to its main company headquarters in Stuttgart. The
Stuttgart team of 110 employees used to be based in two different
locations. The relocation of the entire company to a fully redeveloped,
seven-storey office block dating from the 1970s pursued the goal of
reuniting the team under one roof. The building is prominently located at
a busy crossroads in the urban district of West Stuttgart. The offices of
schlaich bergermann und partner occupy six floors of the building. The
move to the new building signals a fundamental transformation in the
operative and communicative structures within the company. The idea
was to establish a central communication space to become the meeting
place for all departments. Work processes that had previously taken
place in individual, decentralised offices have been shifted into large
open-plan offices to promote collegial exchange. The resultant aesthetic
world cites the precision and technical connotations of the engineering
profession, while warm materials and a collage of communication zones
of different moods create a cosy and welcoming feel

The first and largest floor houses the communicative heart of the
company, consisting of reception, meeting place, bistro and conference
space. This is where all the meeting rooms and the administrative and
organisational divisions are located. A wide range of seating situations
offers different ambiences and the right setting for every kind of
discussion. The idea is that communication should not only take place
during break times. Instead this area and its communicative function
should become an integral part of the everyday workflow. Visitors
ascend to the first floor via a free-floating staircase engineered by the
company itself. It leads to the reception area, from which the space
opens up in a choreographed manner. The first section of the room is
flanked by an aluminium wall, inset with black magnetic strips creating
presentation surfaces. Behind the reception is a first row of desks for
back office and administrative tasks. The reception desk is also the
starting point for a strip of carpet laid on the mineral-coated concrete,
which indicates the zones of movement. Indentations in the carpet have
a signpost function and point to the different functional zones within the
space. A 17 metre-long lighting strip suspended from the ceiling is both
a beam of light and an additional means of orientation.

The centre of the space is denoted by an ample dining area with two
long tables and 24 chairs. These stand on carpet tiles in three
alternating shades of grey and brown. A ceiling panel of sound-control
plaster is suspended above. An elongated bar table standing at right
angles dissects the space between the long tables and a line of tte--
tte tables along the window front. The latter offer a more intimate
conversational setting beneath a dropped light field. The neon green
dots on the floor are designed to conjure up associations of a meadow,
thus building a conceptional bridge to the terrace, which is delineated by
a green wall at one end

Two angular wingback chairs designate a zone for quieter

contemplation or reading between the dining area and the library. Some
occasional tables and three elongated lighting funnels underscore the
homelike character of this area. Directly adjacent is a space contained
within a space: An upholstered semi-circle opens toward the terrace,
thus demarcating this area from the rest of the space. The acoustic
upholstering promotes concentrated discussion, while a circle of deep-
pile carpet, a cluster of lamps and a harmonious colour palette of
bronzes and reds creates a cosy fireplace atmosphere. The opposite
pole is encountered in the square conference area opposite, which is
clearly circumscribed by a dropped light field on the ceiling. Practically
transparent latticework curtains suggest a semi-private space, while
fresh colours, a deep blue table and a pink carpet, add a dash of
inspirational energy to the mix.

The five office floors that house around 25 workstations per floor follow
an identical basic structure and composition. Each floor has a
rectangular floor plan where two rows of four pillars form the longitudinal
axes. The pillars are integrated into cruciform furniture units that provide
storage and presentation space thanks to their magnetic surfaces. Their
suspended construction signals openness: They allow team members
to communicate with adjacent groups of workstations in standing, while
a space-in-space situation is created when seated to ensure discretion.
The cruciform furniture becomes a distinguishing feature both within
and, due to their prominent position behind the glass faade,
without. Each floor consists of a varying number of individual offices and
separate team work areas, as well as a large open-plan work space.
The glass faades of the individual offices run along two longitudinal
axes, and are positioned differently on each floor. The result is one of
varied spatial landscapes. Yet the continuous glass faades of the
single offices still render them optically accessible and thus part of the
overall space.

To delineate the movement zones from the open-plan work areas,

individual work groups are placed behind fat container units or folded
glass filters. The latter provide an acoustic damping effect due to
superimposed textile panels, which double up as pin boards. Standing-
height meeting tables are positioned wherever free areas open up. A
metal grid ceiling is a further reflection of the respective spatial zones. It
follows the floor plan exactly with its various projections, designating the
movement zones and bringing additional dynamics to the spatial axis. A
light wall at the end of the axis sets a final focal point. The metallic
ceiling surface reflects the light from outside and draws it into the space.
And thanks to an applied acoustic fleece, the ceiling also improves the
acoustics of the space.

The new office building for schlaich bergermann und partner establishes
a new communication culture and working environment within the
company. The differentiated communication areas cater to the different
demands of every type of collegial exchange. Varying layouts on the
individual work floors produce diverse office environments. While the
glass-fronted individual offices remain part of the overall space,
cruciform furniture separates the open-plan areas into individual
sections in which a concentrated work atmosphere can prevail.