Greening in Technicolour

Last fall, Hamburg’s office for urban development and environment (bsu) awarded the design of its sprawling new building to Sauerbruch Hutton, which won the competition with a vibrant proposal: a 13-storey high-rise and seven “houses,” elegantly linked via a glazed “access road” that zigzags its way from one end of the complex. Besides providing office space for 1,400 employees, the ground level will be lined with shops, restaurants and cafés, accessible to the public. But what really stands out is the structure’s envelope, comprising bold bands of candy-coloured ceramic that wrap around the its soft corners.

The polychromatic cladding has become Sauerbruch Hutton’s signature. The bold statement “allows us to work more classically with different elements of the facade,” says Juan Lucas Young, a partner at the Berlin firm since 1999. While the colours represent more of an aesthetic choice – turning the notion of the stodgy, bureaucratic office tower on its head – as a whole, the beautiful membranes perform various functions, from providing thermal and acoustic insulation to mapping out internal spaces through changes in the hue.

The multicoloured palette also signifies the firm’s growing reputation for pushing the envelope when it comes to green design. When it is completed in 2013, bsu will incorporate dozens of eco-features, from enhanced thermal insulation and cross-ventilation to geo­thermal and solar systems. With these combined efficiencies, the firm expects the project to consume a mere 70 kilowatt hours per square metre – approximately one-third of what a similar complex without green strategies would us

via azuremagazine.com