OMA’s competition design for UniCredit’s new Headquarters in Munich, Germany, proposes a plaza lifted off the ground to increase public spaces and urban connectivity and to activate an otherwise overlooked area. The scheme aims to “retroactively attribute character to an area which may never have had one.” The site is located by one of the city’s main arteries, the S-Bahn, a strictly functional area lacking in public spaces or amenities. The building proposed by OMA is lifted off the ground, with its limited footprint allowing for more public space to be integrated while preserving the site’s natural features.
The new headquarters is raised on slender columns, allowing for a seamless connection with the future pedestrian S-Bahn crossing, transforming the site into a ‘pivot’ between the Leuchtenbergring S-Bahn stop and the surrounding neighborhood. The building features an elevated central plaza envisioned as an urban living room featuring gardens and public amenities such as restaurants and gastronomy areas for the city. The bank’s meeting center, logistics, and back-of-house functions are located beneath the plaza to ensure easy ground-level access.
The bank’s offices are located above the plaza, in trapezoid-shaped volumes raised 22 meters above the grade. The roof's geometry, somewhat reminiscent of the traditional Münchner roof, is informed by environmental constraints, as the inclination of the facades is designed to improve air circulation and generate the optimum benefit on the photovoltaic cells embedded into the façade. Triangular cuts into the volume ensure access to natural light and a comfortable indoor climate for its users.
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OMA's Prada Foundation Through the Lens of Bahaa GhoussainyThe façade system features closed cavity units with photovoltaic embedded glass, expected to generate between 50 and 70 percent of the building’s annual energy needs. The PV façade system also significantly reduces internal solar heat gain.
Recently, OMA/Jason Long and Y.A. Studio have broken ground on a new joint development in San Francisco, an 8-story building accommodating 160 units of deeply affordable homes and amenities for low-income people, including formerly unhoused families. The internationally-recognized office has also announced the inauguration of Toranomon Hills Station Tower, OMA’s first tower in Tokyo, scheduled to open in the fall of 2023.
