Mannheimer 2 Corporate Headquarters Corporate Headquarters
Mannheim, Germany
Murphy/Jahn
Murphy/Jahn design a glazed, green companion to an existing headquarters
In 1987, Murphy/Jahn designed a new corporate headquarters for the Mannheimer Versicherung insurance company: a granite and glass building completed in 1990. Some ten years later, the firm had increased its headcount—and acquired the remainder of the block adjacent to its headquarters—prompting it to seek the architect’s help in designing a companion building. Although the new project shares the same geometry as the older project, its curtainwall is entirely different: where the original building is solid and sculptural, the new one is transparent, a fully glazed box that glows from within.
Sited along the southern edge of the block, the new building creates an internal courtyard. To the east, it cantilevers over part of the original complex. This projecting form, which contains executive offices and conference rooms, inserts an iconic new presence into the streetscape. The architects organized office functions in a linear fashion, dividing the building with an eight-story tall entry volume. This fully glazed space, which is clad by cable-supported curtainwalls, contains glass-enclosed elevators and metal catwalks. Service spaces, such as restrooms and kitchens, flank both sides of the entry volume, while circulation stairs and emergency exits occupy separate cores at the perimeter of the building in either wing.
Technology, an integral part of the design, gives the building a green edge. The structure features a twin shell facade that helps reduce energy consumption while increasing environmental quality for office workers. Fan coil units located directly within the facade at each floor draw outside air into the building, eliminating the need for air handlers and large vertical shafts. The building also recycles—drawing evaporative night cooling potential from the enlarged cooling towers on the existing structure to cool down exposed roof slabs with an embedded pipe network. With this bit of recycling, and by eliminating unnecessary cooling towers, Murphy/Jahn have designed a technologically sophisticated and elegant building.
Formal name of project:
Mannheimer 2 Corporate Headquarters Corporate Headquarters
Location:
Mannheim, Germany
Gross square footage:
75,347 sq. ft. (161,459 sq. ft. original building)
Owner:
Mannheimer Holding
Architect:
Murphy/Jahn
35 East Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60601
312-427-7300 tel.
312-332-0274 fax
www.murphyjahn.com
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