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OFFICE TOWER SOLO WEST, FRANKFURT
ARCHITECTURE
JO Franzke Architects
PHOTOGRAPHY
Zooey Braun, Stuttgart
INTERIOR DESIGN
Ippolito Fleitz Group GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany
LOCATION
Frankfurt, Germany
STATUS
Realized 2015
HOMEPAGE
www.solo-west.de
- 2015 / LEED U.S. - Green Building Council LEED - GOLD
- GE Edsion Award 2015 / GE Edsion Award - GE Special Citation
- German Design Award 2015 - Nominee
- iF communication design award2016 / iF communication design award Interior Archtitecture
SOLO WEST
The ten-story office building opened in the early 1990s as the so-called “Lahmeyer House”. Like many buildings from that era, it was no longer competitive for office space due to the increased demands of tenants and the oversaturated supply on the Frankfurt real estate market. The building stood empty for several years before the project developer Phoenix Real Estate decided to completely gut it with subsequent revitalization due to its attractive location in Frankfurt’s West End.
The high-quality lobby is the common business card of the various tenants. It is clearly differentiated from the lobby architecture that dominates in Frankfurt. The compact two-story space is exaggerated in its effect by a wall covering of vertical slats.
Directional spotlights positioned circumferentially from above illuminate the wall elements from the joint between the ceiling and the slats. The light sources remain invisible and magically illuminate the wall surfaces.
The circulation and utility cores located around the elevator cores are uniformly designed on all floors. To the outside, they are completely covered with veneered walnut slats, varying the theme of the lobby with a warm and high-quality materiality.
A circumferential light band emphasizes the monolithic form of the encompassing wooden body.
The office presents itself open and high quality. The clear and white-ground office architecture contrasts excitingly with the warm wooden surfaces of the core cladding. This effect is further enhanced by three display cases opulently filled with tropical, jungle-like vegetation.
Quotes from Beatles songs float in neon letters in front of this floral scene: “Eight days a week” in the boss’s office, “Here comes the sun” in front of the secretary’s office and “We can work it out” in the conference room.