Skyline of Frankfurt at night with the illuminated European Central Bank in focus and other buildings, the river Main and the Main Bridge

identity-establishing glass tower

modern landmark: european central bank

The European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt is an eye-catching architectural icon with two asymmetrical glass towers joined by a glazed atrium. For this prestigious project, seele produced a striking building envelope made of 6,081 façade elements. Despite the polygonal geometry of the high-rise glass towers, the façade construction specialist was able to engineer and construct the building envelope economically – thanks to a unique assembly feature. The façade elements are tilted 2 degrees along the vertical axis and arranged in a shingle-like pattern, allowing them to partially overlap.
 

façade elements of the glass tower

For the outer shell of the 185 m high glass towers, seele designed, manufactured and installed a type of hybrid double glass façade – a triple-layered aluminium façade with electrically operated, storey-high parallel-opening window elements in every second façade bay. These operable elements allow direct, natural ventilation of the office spaces. The sunshading and glare protection integrated into the façade elements accentuates the homogeneous surface of the glass towers.

Façade type
Unitised façade
Client
European Central Bank
Contractor
Drees & Sommer
Engineer
Ingenieurbüro Lange
Architect
COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Awards

Hessian Cultural Prize 2013

Frog's-eye view of the façade of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt with many individual glass façade elements with a metal frame against a blue sky
The two towers of the European Central Bank with a façade of glass façade elements against a blue sky
A rectangular façade element is lifted into place at the edge of the European Central Bank building. The façade element floats in the air on two chains. The steel substructure can be seen next to the installed façade elements
A man in a neon yellow jacket is standing on scaffolding in front of the glass façade of the European Central Bank, in which the city of Frankfurt is reflected. To the right is an orange construction crane

functional fabrication for the glass tower

The sloping, hyperbolic façade surfaces required prefabricated elements with many different, complex geometries. seele developed a solution that uses only straight, serially manufactured façade elements, reducing the variety from 4,000 to 1,000. As the skew of the elements resulted in small overlaps along the horizontal edges, seele also devised a novel sealing detail: gaskets were inserted into the sides only during installation so that the elements are reliably connected along their entire length.

#madebyseele

34,200 sqm glass façade — 2,636 sqm roof

34,200 sqm
unitised façade
6,081
façade elements
2,636 sqm
roof
2°
tilt of the façade elements
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