Deutsche Bank Headquarters, Frankfurt, Germany is one of the world's largest sustainable projects. The Deutsche Bank's twin towers (one 34 stories, the other 36 stories) are undergoing a massive $271 million retrofit that will turn the complex into the world's most environmentally friendly skyscraper, which will be renamed the Green Towers.
Completed in 1983 on the site of the late 19th century Lowensteinsche Palace, which was severely damaged during WWII and sitting empty since the Great War, the 1.29-million-sf Deutsche Bank headquarters is being reworked by Milan-based Mario Bellini Architects with architects gmp von Gerkan, Marg, and Partners as the project's planning and management team into a 21st century icon.
From the outside, the towers look little changed-a directive from the bank who tasked the Building Team with "doing anything you want to the building expect change the way it looks" because the iconic buildings have become the symbol-and unofficial logo-for the bank. So, while the team switched out the building's old, less efficient curtain wall with a new triple-glazed system, it mimics the look of the original glazed façade but offers the luxury of operable windows.
The rest of the sustainability makeover occurs inside the all-concrete towers, which are targeting LEED Platinum and Gold rating (the highest) from the German Sustainable Building Council.
The project's sustainable highlights:
• Recycled 98% of construction materials (30,500 tons of demolition material was generated)
• Reduced energy use inside the building by 55%
• Reduced water use by 74%
• Reduced heat energy by 67%
• Reduced CO2 by 89%
• Reworked interior spaces increased efficiency to such degree that 600 additional workers will occupy the same amount of floor space when the building reopens later this year.
Deutsche Bank towers set to become sustainable skyscrapers
