Department of Public Works, Mannheim

The brief for the development plan – and the exact specification of the building height in particular – leaves little scope for the exterior design of the volume. Our concept has three main goals: to organize the work spaces according to principles of heterarchy rather than hierarchy, to connect all of the auxiliary spaces and, above all, to highlight the public character of the building by means of a spacious entryway and a vast balcony facing the new urban quarter of Glückstein.

The design avoids any weighty neoconservative or ostensibly “urban” gestures, specifically because of its role as the city’s public works office, and seeks instead to express a certain lightness of being that is most clearly articulated in the way the different building blocks are joined together. With the façade detailing and the choice of materials, we demonstrate that architecture can be light, open and refined without sacrificing durability in both form and function. The building also meets the relevant standards for energy efficiency despite the many openings in the façade.