The stunning exterior of Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, designed by Christoph Ingenhoven, showcasing its integration with the landscape and sustainable design elements

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PROJECTS / STADTWERKE DÜSSELDORF

New Construction for Stadtwerke Düsseldorf

Despite the use of simple, industrial materials and the complete absence of historicizing decor, a temple of industry emerged that anticipated the aesthetics of the dawning age. Could there be a more fitting location for an energy company than a site marked by steaming cooling towers? Stadtwerke Düsseldorf decided to establish their new headquarters on a vast power plant site.

Here, too, early industrial architecture dominates, clearly reflecting the influence of Behrens’ design. After their successful participation in the competition, the architects were commissioned to design an office building that would centralize the previously scattered departments of Stadtwerke. They chose a building form consisting of wings parallel to the two old buildings, connected by courtyards. A third building, the boiler house, had to give way to the new construction. Glass joints connect the preserved old buildings with each other and with the new building. The turbine hall and the old administration building were constructed in 1889 by Erasmus Kittler.

The refurbished and publicly accessible turbine hall is used as a customer center on the ground floor and as an event hall on the upper floor. Customers access the hall via newly installed escalators and an elevator. The character of a large machine hall has been preserved through the retention of a turbine, which serves to document the historic power plant. The skylight roof has been covered with clear glass, making the room much brighter. The wall surfaces are adorned with large-format, colorful artworks by the Cuban artist Jorge Pardo. The floors were also laid according to a design by the artist, using diamond-shaped yellow ceramic tiles

The main entrance to the entire complex is located in a glass joint that can be entered from Höherweg and the adjacent Bürgerpark. The four new building wings are connected by bridges in the glass halls between them. Glass elevators and sweeping staircases, from the ground floor to the first floor, connect all levels. For the employees of Stadtwerke and their customers, the atriums are not only experienced through the view from the floor-to-ceiling glazed office spaces. The bridges and ground-floor areas of the inner gardens become places of informal communication.

Large fig trees and green planting islands optimize the microclimate of the naturally ventilated atriums. In the halls, a cut-open coal paternoster, the loading system, and a halved boiler have been preserved. These serve as exhibition pieces for the power plant's history, standing like dinosaurs in a natural history museum in the glass halls as relics of bygone times.

With the new construction for Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, Christoph Ingenhoven has made a significant contribution to the conversion of inner-city industrial sites into high-quality office spaces.

Data

Competition 1998, 1st Prize

Construction Start 1999
Completion 2001
Client Stadtwerke Düsseldorf

GFA 223.500m²

Credits

Project Management ALBA Bau

Structural Engineering SPI Schüßler Plan

Special Structural Engineering Werner Sobek

Technical Building Equipment Kruck

Façade Planning DS-Plan

Lighting Design Werning Tropp Schmidt

Fire Protection Ingenieurbüro Lorsbach

Interior Design Overdiek und Partner

Open Space Planning Overdiek und Partner, WKM Weber Klein Maas

Industrial Monument Consulting Bohn

Monument Protection Consulting Büro Dahmen und Mertens

Art Consulting Achenbach

Art Jorge Pardo • Thomas Ruff

Awards

2005

Auszeichnung Vorbildlicher Bauten in Nordrhein-Westfalen 2005 (Land NRW/Architektenkammer NRW)

2004
Nordrhein-Westfälischer Landschaftsarchitekturpreis 2004 (BDLA NRW), Würdigung

2003