Build Architecture Awards 2016

Build 2016 Architecture Awards 68 Name: Gerber Architekten Location: Dortmund, Berlin, Hamburg, Riyadh, Shanghai Head Office: Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Address: Tönnishof 9-13, 44149 Dortmund Germany Email: [email protected] [email protected] Website: www.gerberarchitekten.de Telephone: +49 231 9065 0 Telefax: +49 231 9065 111 his year, Gerber Architekten is celebrating 50 years in business and more than 140 completed buildings, both nationally and internationally. A diverse team of professionals is based in five international locations. In the head office in Dortmund, in Hamburg, Berlin, Riyadh and Shanghai, a team of 170 architects, interior designers and landscape architects is working together to create a wide range of architecture, distinguished by its simplicity, legibility and contempo- rary aesthetic. A wealth of know-how and the combination of young talents and experi- enced professionals produces a dynamic that makes the practice so strong in its designs and in the creation of innovative architecture. So it is not surprising that large companies and institutions have entrusted Gerber Ar- chitekten with commissions, because they have the ability, when faced with the task of synthesizing a variety of interconnected functions and spaces, to put people as the users of architecture and as the determining parameter in the foreground and to address their needs and well-being appropriately. Through intensive consultation with the client, the practice carefully draws together the lines of correlation which link the entrepreneurial building pro- ject with its functional and economic demands, the location, the landscape and people as the main stakeholders – expressing this in built form with intelligence and simplicity. The results are highly regarded buildings, for example the RWE-Tower in Dortmund, the Trade Fair Centre in Karlsruhe or the King Fahad National Library in Riyadh which have generated great interest among both the gen- eral public and the media, and have thus contributed to raising the profile of Gerber Architekten. The success of Gerber Architekten is based on the complex and at the same time holistic nature of the designs. The challenge of each project is to create an architecture which is integrated at all levels and from all perspectives and which from the scale of the whole building down to each individual detail follows a consistent language, thereby providing a conceptual framework for the built form. This distills the interconnections between the building vol- ume, the sequence of spaces, the users, the location and the landscape into a purist object – a unique response to the genius loci. Gerber Architekten delivers an architecture to the highest quality standards which has achieved recognition far beyond the borders of Germany. The practice has designed major projects for Chinese and Saudi Arabian clients, for example the head office of the Phicomm technology company in Shanghai, the Info.HUB for the emerging Kind Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh or the Olaya Metro Station in Riyadh. Gerber Architekten applies the specificity of the location, its culture, its histo- ry and topography to the design and uses this to generate the building form. The buildings are custom-made for the location and blend harmoniously into the landscape. The firm is committed to the transformation processes which are currently striving to make architecture more integrated, sustainable, ecological and intelligible. The company works with the latest technologies, develops pro- totype details and employs sustainable building features such as ecological cooling methods or a resource-saving energy supply. The King Fahad Na- tional Library in Riyadh is a particularly good example for building in desert conditions. The building envelope consists of a curtain wall and rhomboid white fabric awnings – inspired by traditional tent structures –, which shade the façade and create an interesting pattern of revealing and concealing interior space. The shape of membranes was optimised based on solar path analysis in order to maximize daylight in the interior space, while providing maximum sun protection. As a founding member of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) the practice aims for integrated sustainability in its projects. Here, the social aspect is of particular importance. A key point in this is creating places which enable social encounters and interaction. Gerber Architekten International Design Firm of the Year 2016 - Germany & Best German Housing Project: Front Buildings of the Quarter of Nations Wilhelmsburg Gerber Architekten is one of the best-known architectural practices in Germany and is ac- tive nationally and internationally. We examine the practice in more detail and showcase its latest project. T AR160049