| | GSW Headquarters Berlin. Sauerbruch Hutton Architects, Lars Müller Publishers.
Completed in 1999, British architect
Sauerbruch Hutton's GSW Headquarters is composed of five
distinct volumes: the "baguette", the "baguetttini",
the "pillbox", the existing tower, and the high-rise.
Typically the high-rise portion gets the most attention,
its south-facing facade a random layout of colored shades,
ranging from white to maroon with pinks, oranges and reds
in-between. But reading this book, one realizes that the
design's interest doesn't stop there. For example, the "baguette",
a low-rise retail and office space, features a two-story
atrium space along its length, and the "pillbox's"
construction utilizes a cantilevered construction to give
the impression its floating above the "baguette".
Regardless, the high-rise is the most prominent element
and the most forward-thinking, incorporating a double-wall
system and other sustainable features, giving it depth beyond
the colored facade. In addition to these parts of the Headquarters,
the book covers the history of the site and the housing
association client, the project's competition, the landscape,
the buildings' structures and low-energy ideas, all via
a generous amount of drawings and photographs. In the end,
the book gives a thorough understanding of the project but
also an idea of what direction commercial architecture should
take.
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