Opernturm
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This article or section contains information about a building currently under construction. It may contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically and frequently as construction progresses and new information becomes available. |
| OpernTurm | |
 |
|
| Information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Bockenheimer Landstraße 2-4 Frankfurt, Germany |
| Status | Under construction |
| Groundbreaking | Jan, 2007 |
| Estimated completion | 2010 (est.) |
| Opening | 2010 (est.) |
| Use | Office Tower |
| Height | |
| Roof | 168m |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 42 |
| Floor area | approx. 62,500 m² |
| Companies | |
| Architect | Christoph Mäckler |
| Developer | Tishman Speyer Properties |
OpernTurm (provisional title: Tower Near Opernplatz [HAO]) is a skyscraper under construction in Frankfurt, Germany. The property is situated where Frankfurt's West End meets the inner city, opposite Alte Oper on the corner of Bockenheimer Landstrasse/Bockenheimer Anlage. The architect of the tower is Professor Christoph Mäckler from Frankfurt, project developer is Tishman Speyer, a US company that previously built the Sony Center in Berlin and MesseTurm in Frankfurt. OpernTurm consists of a 168-m high-rise building and an approximately 26-m low-rise perimeter development facing Alte Oper. The tower will have 42 levels, while the low-rise will have seven.
The site where OpernTurm will rise up in the future was occupied by the Zürich Tower built in 1962 until 2002. In 1998, Zürich Versicherung, the owner of the 68-m tall building, commissioned the architectural practice of Christoph Mäckler to design a new building that would be 22 m taller. In order to maximize land use, the building was rather capacious and appeared to be plump. Zürich Versicherung suggested to the city to build the new tower up to a height of 160 m and use its own property to extend adjacent Rothschildpark down to Bockenheimer Landstrasse. The city finally agreed. When Zürich Versicherung decided not to start the development, it sold the now empty site -- the old tower had been demolished in 2002 -- to project developer Tishman Speyer in July 2004. Tishman Speyer had been active in Frankfurt before, building MesseTurm in the 1980s. Civil engineering works started in late 2006 with the removal of the former underground garage of the Zürich Tower, while the groundbreaking for the development of OpernTurm took place on 22 January 2007.
When completed in late 2009, OpernTurm will rise up in Opernplatz, the most prominent location in Frankfurt, adding another landmark to the city's famous skyline. Its elegant appearance and the natural stone façade make it stand out from the glass towers of the city and cite its environment, thus returning Opernplatz its original setting. The adjoining Rothschildpark will be extended by 5,500 square metres and redesigned in the style of an English garden. After the completion of the new skyscraper, the park in its historical form will again be accessible from Bockenheimer Landstrasse and through the Rothschild Gate in Bockenheimer Anlage. Half of the rental space of OpernTurm, 31,000 sqm, has already been leased. After completion in 2010, UBS Deutschland AG will move into its new German headquarters.
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