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Architects: HPP Architects
- Area: 35000 m²
- Year: 2015
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Photographs:Courtesy of HPP Architects
Text description provided by the architects. MIPIM Award 2015 in the Best Refurbished Building Category, Düsseldorf/Cannes, 13 March 2015. The refurbishment of Düsseldorf’s famous landmark has won the MIPIM Award 2015 in the Best Refurbished Building Category.
Awarded last evening during the MIPIM Property Fair in Cannes, the MIPIM Awards are among the most significant real estate prizes in the world. The jury of eleven including architects Kengo Kuma and Dominique Perrault and the MIPIM visitors voted for the Dreischeibenhaus, putting it ahead of the three further finalists including the Riyadh National Library.
The administrative building, originally designed by Helmut Hentrich and Hubert Petschnigg for Phönix-Rheinrohr AG (re-named Thyssen in 1964) is one of the outstanding icons of German post-war modernism. Used by ThyssenKrupp as company headquarters until they moved out in 2010, the building then stood empty. In 2011 the MOMENI Group and Black Horse Investments purchased the listed building and commissioned HPP Architects, successors to the original architects, to carry out the refurbishment.
The curtain wall façade was made energy-efficient by the addition of a new internal primary façade to the offices on each storey. The external load-bearing façade including the spandrels were left in their original state, the only change was to install impact-glazing. The windows of the primary façade can be opened manually to enable draught-free ventilation of the offices. The sunshades fitted between the two skins of the façade also offer thermal protection and even appear to be on the outside, such that, from a distance, the building appears unchanged; the familiar sight with its opened and closed sunshades remains.
Due to the durability of the original material, the stainless steel cladding on the sides of the building was cleaned and retained. In addition to the works to the façade, a major achievement was the renewal of the building management systems and services and the fire safety system. The former were decentralised resulting in an additional 1,200 m² of usable space. Thanks to the installation of a number of fire curtains and the provision of an additional emergency exit, the listed foyer was retained in its original condition.
The office floors were modernised in order to create a flexible letting concept; up to two units per storey can now be achieved. The design and fit-out of the interiors was determined by the tenants, a number of whom opted to make reference to the building itself, choosing dark green marble floors or stainless steel cladding to the service core.
Further refurbishment works were required to the lower ground floors and the underground car park, which now connects directly to the municipal tunnel system. Two new terraces have also been added to the roofs of the external slices of the building. Joachim H. Faust, Managing Partner of HPP, commented, “We are particularly proud to receive this MIPIM Award! The Dreischeibenhaus, realised in 1960, marked the beginning of HPP’s international reputation and since that time has stood for our understanding of sustainable architecture. The refurbishment will safeguard the exceptional quality of this building for decades to come – both for the new generation of users and for the City of Düsseldorf.”
