09. Aug 2021

Subtle shine: metal mesh for elevator lobbies in the Berliner Bogen

With the Berliner Bogen on the east side of Hamburg's city center, Hadi Teherani created an office block that received international acclaim. For the redesign of the heavily used elevator lobby in 2020, he selected 106 square meters of PC-ALU 6020 silver-colored anodized aluminum mesh.

The sculptural steel and glass construction consisting of 22 steel arcs arranged in diagonally interlocking pairs arches over a channel. The 32,000 square meters of the usable area created by this glass parabola provide room for 1,200 workplaces. This is enabled by the building’s design as a house within a house: The arched glass shell envelopes an eight-story solid building core. The entire load of the glass skin is carried by the steel arcs – as is a large part of the reinforced concrete arch. The thermally activated ceiling constructions are also suspended from these arcs.

A spacious foyer of puristic design leads into the long central tract. Eight transverse tracts branch off from this main axis in a comb-like arrangement. Six multistory winter gardens serve as climatic buffers on the long sides of the 140-meter-long, 36-meter-high, and 70-meter-wide building. As the central element of the intelligent energy concept, they dispense with the need for air-conditioning systems in the entire Berliner Bogen thanks to the microclimate they create and ensure natural ventilation of all offices. At the same time, the winter gardens provide attractive leisure spaces for employees to find peace and relaxation in their breaks.

The hi-tech aesthetics of the building are also reflected in the choice of material for the three elevator lobbies renovated in 2020. A silver-colored anodized rigid mesh was used for the ceiling-high cladding of the walls here. Panels of PC-ALU 6020 measuring up to 3,300 millimeters high and 1,350 millimeters wide were mounted onto MDF boards and finished with delicate aluminum profiles as edge protection. The 35 panels were then mounted in front of the bare wall as facing formwork. The all-around indirect ceiling lighting gives the metal skin a soft shine.