Four new skyscrapers for Frankfurt’s skyline

• Winner of the urban planning ideas competition for the former Deutsche Bank site in the city centre selected
• The winning concept for the new quarter – four high-rise buildings up to 233 metres in height and approx. 600 new apartments – was submitted by UNStudio
• Frankfurt’s highest residential and office floors to be built
• Multi-facetted experience to liven up financial district

The question of what to build on the Deutsche Bank site in the financial district has been answered: four high-rise buildings will be added to the skyline to form a new urban quarter. Two of the towers will be residential, and there will also be space for restaurants and retail outlets. Its special location in the middle of the skyline and adjacent to the city centre’s shopping and pedestrian areas means the project has the potential to create a cosmopolitan urban environment that is unique in Germany.

This is the result of the urban development ideas competition launched by the owner of the site, Groß & Partner Grundstücksentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, in November 2015.

The aim of the ideas competition was to develop urban planning solutions for a versatile and vibrant quarter. At its meeting on 9 March 2016, which was chaired by Professor Gatermann, the jury awarded two prizes and two recognitions. The architecture firms 3XN from Copenhagen and Raumwerk from Frankfurt am Main were pleased to receive a recognition. The second prize went to the Berlin-based architecture firm Max Dudler. UNStudio from the Netherlands submitted the winning design. The specialist architects from Amsterdam have already realised projects in 30 countries. Their most famous building in Germany is the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. The Dutch architects prevailed against nine other nationally and internationally renowned planning and architecture firms. The eight member jury, comprising representatives of the city, architecture and urban planning experts, and the organiser, were impressed by the overall feel of the buildings and the planned opening of the site towards the city centre. The proposals for the integration of the listed façades at Junghofstrasse were viewed as particularly sensitive and accomplished.

The opening of the site is intended to liven up the city centre

The urban development plan will be modified based on the results of the competition. The planned connecting paths, passages and squares are designed to make the self-contained property more of an experience and connect them to the surrounding parts of the city centre. Open spaces, accessible to the public, such as a roof garden, a central square, several restaurants and shops, will sustainably improve quality of life in the financial district. The plans are therefore also in line with the municipal goals of making the area more accessible, increasing its usability for the public and also creating space for apartments and hotels in this location.

This is how Frankfurt’s Mayor and Head of Planning Olaf Cunitz sums up the competition results: “The winning design offers the greatest potential for this area to function as a connecting element between the financial district and the city as a well-functioning, mixed-use quarter with new apartments”.

Two office towers, two residential towers and a diverse mix-use quarter

The quarter’s planned 233-metre-high main tower adds special architectural significance to the project. The new 59 storey high-rise in the immediate vicinity of the Commerzbank Tower and the Main Tower will form a new part of Frankfurt’s skyline with the potential to add another landmark to the cityscape. The tower is already part of the current development plan, but two residential high-rise buildings, which will accommodate more than 600 apartments in total, are new. There will also be a children’s daycare centre, two hotels and a wide range of restaurants and retail shops.

“We are very grateful to have the opportunity to develop such an exciting and versatile project in our hometown”, says Jürgen Groß, owner and managing director at Groß & Partner. “We look forward to our fellow Frankfurt residents sharing this vision of ours. We firmly believe that this project will be an enrichment for the city centre and for Frankfurt as a whole. There is nothing comparable in any other German city, and the project will also attract international attention”, Jürgen Groß adds.

The contributions of all the architects will be publicly exhibited in May together with a presentation of the quarter concept and the future name for the area.

Further qualification procedures for the buildings will start shortly. The go-ahead for the construction of the new quarter is expected to be given in the coming year, and the plan is for the first buildings to be opened in 2020.