Ludwig
Erhard Haus was designed to house the Berlin Stock Exchange, the
Chamber of
Commerce and the local Federation of Industrialists.
The brief also called for lettable office space, a
conference centre and
catering facilities and the client stipulated that the entire project
be
self-financing. So the scheme had to be commercially viable, built
within a
tightly controlled budget but capable of commanding high rental rates.
A further
condition was to achieve low energy consumption, low running costs and
low
levels of pollutant emissions.
Taking into account additional restrictions, such as
rights-of-light issues,
the irregularity of the site and the maximum building height line
imposed by
the city planners, the volume of the building represents the site’s
maximum
commercial development envelope. A number of studies were carried out
to
develop the most cost effective and efficient solution to the buildings
irregular envelope.
images copyright GRIMSHAW