Rosenheimer Strasse

Atlas:
Upcycling of a Highrise

How do we create something new while still taking care of the old? One method would be: recycling! This is what we wanted to achieve with the 14-Floor Tower and its iconic orange sphere located in the Rosenheimer Strasse 143, after the demolition of its surrounding buildings. Werksviertel is a rapidly developing area of Munich with new offices, hotels, fitness studios and public spaces. Our solution was to salvage and refurbish the skeleton of the tower dated from 1982, and compliment it with three new annex buildings to define two courtyards with terraces overlooking the Werksviertel.

Our goal was to refresh the tower but keep the symbolic 7.5m-diameter sphere, a 13-ton landmark in Munich formed from 128 plexiglass pieces. Our solution: salvage and refurbish the skeleton of the tower dated from 1982, and compliment it with three new annex buildings to define two courtyards with terraces overlooking the Werksviertel.

The new offices offer private and flexible work spaces, co-working areas and lounges. We interspersed open spaces to provide an atmosphere of ‘work-life-balance’, and varied spatial characteristics from traditionally-classic to more contemporary and fluid.

As we renewed the tower we also re-imagined the heavy geometry of the façade. We introduced prisms at edges and vertices to create a light and elegant interplay of reflections and colours to thrill viewers on the ground looking up to the sky. A double-height lounge with a unique wall are featured in this elegant building that greets visitors before they climb to the tower terrace where a 360° panorama of the Alps and all Munich awaits.