DZ Bank

Photo: Waltraud Krase

The Pariser Platz 3 is a mixed-use building comprised of the Berlin Headquarters of DZ Bank and a residential component with 39 apartments. The commercial component of the building is oriented towards Pariser Platz and the Brandenburg Gate, and the residential component towards Behrenstrasse.

The Pariser Platz facade features a series of simple, punched openings and deeply-recessed window bays, allowing the building to blend naturally into the unique urban fabric which is the setting of the Brandenburg Gate.

Photo: Thomas Mayer

The Pariser Platz Facade
Both the Pariser Platz facade and the Behrenstrasse facade are fairly rectilinear as there were very strict limitations that had to be followed. The facades, clad in a buff-colored limestone that matches the Brandenburg Gate, are scaled independently from one another, so that the proportions of both are appropriate to the immediate urban area within which they each exist.

Photo: Waltraud Krase

The high-volume foyer immediately inside the main entry offers a view into the building’s large interior atrium, which features a curving glass ceiling and a curving glass floor.

Photo: Thomas Mayer

A wood-clad arcade leads to the office elevator lobbies, which are located on either side of the atrium. Offices and conference spaces are organized around the atrium, and are oriented inward to take advantage of the natural light that floods through the glass ceiling.

Photo: Thomas Mayer

The building’s primary conference hall is located within a highly sculptural shell that rests on the glass floor in the center of the atrium making it appear to float in the space. The four-story high structure, its curvy form resembling an enormous prehistoric horses head, is clad in stainless steel on the exterior and wood on the interior. The construction of the roof is very light and looks like a spider web. A cafeteria is located below the the atrium glass floor.

Photo: Thomas Mayer

Photo: Thomas Mayer

Photo: Thomas Mayer

Photo: Thomas Mayer

Photo: Thomas Mayer

Photo: arcspace

The beginning of the form for the Conference Room grew out of the Peter Lewis House; a 6 year project that was never realized. From 1989 to 1995, when he worked intensively on the Lewis House, Gehry used the project to experiment with free-form shapes that since have shown up in many of his most famous buildings. The room was actually booked for future conferences long before it was constructed…just from the model.

Photo: arcspace

A Sky Lounge will be located on the roof of the building, beneath a stainless steel collar that surrounds the Southern end of the atrium’s glass ceiling.
The Sky Lounge features high ceilings and expansive glazing designed to take advantage of the building’s spectacular views of the Brandenburg Gate.

Photo: arcspace

Sketch courtesy Frank Gehry

Sketch courtesy Frank Gehry

Drawing courtesy FOGA