Description

The Deutsche Messe AG [German Trade Fair], founded in 1947 under British occupation, has developed into an enterprise that organises fairs of worldwide importance and interest. The new building on the grounds of the Hanover Trade Fair is an extension of the existing eight-storey structure built in the sixties, and accommodates the executive suites with the Hermes Lounge as the prestige floor, as well as the marketing and project departments.

The small size of the lot caused the architects to build upwards. At twenty storeys high the tallest building on the fairground, the office tower has become the fairground’s identifying feature. The plasticity of the transparent double-skin façade and the earth-coloured, closed areas of the access towers in front of it define the exterior of the new building. The square as the ground plan figure is continued through to the dark granite floor formats in the entrance hall. The three-storey entrance, glazed on four sides, reminds one in its minimalist clarity of the architecture of Mies van der Rohe. This impressive space gives access to the clearly arranged office units. Cell-like offices of varying sizes are grouped around a middle zone common to all, with comfortable seating, office infrastructure and storage surfaces. From here the staff deal with acquisition and attend to the needs of the international trade fair exhibitors. Although the project work takes place in groups, the individual employees work independently from each other; the infrequent internal communication occurs for the most part spontaneously, in individual offices. Hence the central space, which fosters community activities, becomes all the more important.

With the execution of a double-skin corridor façade, the architect has had recourse to a façade type whose suitability and advantage in high-rise buildings is already well proven. The façade is a component of a complex coordinated system that uses sun and wind resources to create a comfortable interior climate. It allows solar protection louvres to be attached on the outside and natural ventilation of the rooms inside. This way solar protection glass and full air-conditioning can be dispensed with. In addition, a parapet ventilation channel integrated in the wooden façade supplies the rooms with warm and cold fresh air on an individual basis. The heating and cooling system laid in the upper layer of concrete, and the thermal mass effect of the solid raw concrete ceilings, are part of this system.

“Man as the measure of all things” is not just an empty phrase here but is instead demonstrated in the comfortable, clearly arranged office units, the individually adjustable interior climate and not least in the style of the wooden façades, whose warm appearance contributes much to the ambience of the offices.

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Originally published in: Rainer Hascher, Simone Jeska, Birgit Klauck, Office Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2002.