3XN

The 3XN design for the "Cube", the new headquarters building for the German rail group Deutsche Bahn in Berlin, is located Berlin at Washingtonplatz, next to Europe’s biggest railway station, Lehrter Bahnhof, and surrounded by the reunified Germany’s new government buildings, the Parliament, and the Tiergarten.

3XN’s winning project combines a strong geometrical shape with a sculptural facade. The interior is characterised by openness and dynamism, with a soaring central atrium and four plateaus that open up the building towards the surrounding city. There has been considerable focus on ensuring knowledge sharing and an inspiring work environment, with numerous attractive communal areas and the possibility of holding meetings in both formal and informal settings. A large foyer on the ground floor is a semi-public space housing exhibition areas, an auditorium, a children’s reading corner etc.

When alighting from your train at Europe’s biggest railway station, you find yourself not just in the heart of Berlin, or Germany for that matter - but also at the heart of Europe. Lehrter Bahnhof is a historical junction in the European railway network. At the end of the Second World War, Lehrter Bahnhof was in ruins, while, to the south of the railway station on the other side of the Berlin Wall, Washingtonplatz was a wasteland. With the new Lehrter Bahnhof station, Washingtonplatz has once again become a thriving terminus for travellers from the east, west, north and south. As in the past, all Europe meets in Berlin, with more than 300,000 people passing through the station every day.

We see the cube in Unger’s master plan for Stadtquartier Lehrter Bahnhof as an opportunity for Berlin to make its mark, not with a stationary monument, but with a modern, dynamic workplace in a building that offers a high degree of contact with its surroundings. Its location on the buzzing Washingtonplatz, the two axes that intersect here, and its distinct cuboidal shape, together offer a dynamic point of departure which is both urban, sculptural and functional.
We have before us a strong building with a strong design that offers a strong message. A building which, with its clear cuboidal shape and high signal value will tie in perfectly with Deutsche Bahn’s worldwide reputation for precision and efficiency. A strong and clearly designed landmark housing a modern, dynamic and well-run workplace. This is our vision.

The starting point for the Cube project is an understanding of its unique context: its location at the heart of Berlin and Europe as a whole, the conditions for the site, and the potential of establishing a unique domicile for an international enterprise. From an urban perspective, Washingtonplatz is a unique nodal point in terms of both the visual and functional axes. The area is characterised by a number of factors and circumstances which should be incorporated into the project design to ensure the high quality and value which the location deserves: The urban context and existing building volumes must be respected and further developed through the carefully place-related organisation of the building. Urban flow patterns, pedestrian traffic and other traffic must be precisely coordinated to accommodate future urban activities and the establishment of outdoor environments to create a lively and attractive urban scene in and around Washingtonplatz. Climatic aspects such as daylight conditions as well as exposure to the wind need to be coordinated when one desires to establish a well-run, visionary building that takes both energy demands and the environment into account. Finally, the site offers an unparalleled opportunity for exposure that obliges us to do our utmost, while enabling us to create a structure that will contribute to setting new standards and achieve a status as a Berlin landmark, and to consolidate the city’s status as an important and attractive destination and a centre for Europe as a whole.

If you analyse the conventional office building, it often only appears to be flexible on the surface, because a traditional structure with cellular or open-plan offices and with conference rooms tucked away in the corners often makes the building stiff and rigid. Through our now considerable experience as creators of flexible, modern office buildings and institutions, we have developed a number of principles which we are continually striving to refine. In the modern organisation, a hierarchical chain of command is supplemented by knowledge sharing, innovation, efficient communication and interaction at many levels. Also in the Cube, we have worked with a number of architectural principles that create a framework for modern working methods. We see knowledge sharing and learning, communicating organisations as a precondition for high productivity and a good working environment. A building is not just an empty shell around the activities that take place within it. We believe that a good building interacts positively. We call this framework which we are striving to develop "the interactive building". What must be created are dynamic and well-thought-out flexible settings with a strong spatial identity. Our analyses and detailed studies of models and diagrams have been aimed at creating identity and presence at all levels in the efficient office machine. To prevent it from being just that, a machine. But rather an active, flexible, interactive workplace. At the same time, it is a building which sets standards of exclusivity, and invites interest from its surroundings; a building with a clear identity and an original character - a building that stands as a symbiosis of place and function.

The cube is a challenging geometrical shape, and with its 360-degree exposure and positioning in its context, it is important to ensure that its appearance has been carefully considered. This involves a number of aspects. We have emphasised architectural strength, sound juxtaposition with its urban surroundings and an intrinsic human dimension. In all three areas, we have worked to create balance and unity from the point of view of sculptural abstraction level, scale, variability, texture, detail and atmosphere. We believe that it is a question of giving the Cube a dynamism that can bring it to life as an icon and sculptural element. This dynamism can be partly drawn from its surroundings, and partly from what takes place within the building. It is, so to speak, a question of letting the dice roll. By thoroughly analysing the programme and conducting a large number of model studies, we have arrived at an interplay of solutions that transposes the building’s internal functionality out to the cube’s facades. With its clear and simple geometrical shape, the cuboidal design will be an eye-catcher from far off. On moving closer, you will realise that the geometry of the facades is not as simple as you might have initially assumed. The surfaces are opened up and folded through a transformation of a simple, geometrical grid.

We find that the clear and strong geometry of the Cube, which on the face of it appears simple but which is actually highly complex, ties in beautifully with Deutsche Bahn’s world-famous reputation for precision and efficiency. A clear identity is a quality in itself. At the same time, it is a question of striking a balance between tradition and innovation, where the framework supports development rather than restricting it. This also applies to the good building. Precision is also a clear design idiom that translates into powerful visual experiences. Efficiency is also utilising a given area in the best possible way. But a good building also relates actively and constructively to its surroundings. Just as a modern business such as Deutsche Bahn attaches considerable importance to its social responsibilities as part of society at large. Here, we envisage, for example, the semi-public zone on the ground floor of the Cube reflecting Deutsche Bahn’s social programme. "To travel is to live," said the Danish fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen. "To travel is to read," supplements Deutsche Bahn. Rail travel and reading go hand in hand. Since 1996, Deutsche Bahn has, as a member of the German reading foundation Stiftung Lesen, supported a wide range of initiatives to improve literacy among children and young people. Space has therefore been allocated in the semi-public zone on the ground floor of the Cube for a reading corner for children and their parents. It is also possible to stage changing exhibitions here about the history of rail travel and Deutsche Bahn from the age of steam to the latest high-speed trains. In this way, the building can draw people in through its doors from the surrounding square, strengthening the relationship with its immediate surroundings. A cube need not be an unwelcoming and cold piece of geometry.

The idea of Light*house is to create an attractive and versatile urban area on the harbour front in Århus, Denmark’s second largest city. Openness, vividness and multiplicity characterise the winning proposal by 3XN and Dutch office UNStudio in collaboration with urban environment experts Gehl Architects and engineers Grontmij Carl Bro. Instead of the conventional block this project mix a high-rise structure with small groups of terraced houses to ensure smaller community ambiance and safety. Adding an afternoon sun lit seaside promenade with cafés, shops, and a large square for leisure activities, the master plan emphasizes interaction of private, semi-public and public areas, with public access to the view from the Skybar at the top of the tower building. In order to ensure green and quiet walkways between the buildings, motorists are to park in an underground parking facility leaving the area to the residents, and to guest pedestrians and cyclists.

This development project is situated at the outermost part of Århus Harbour, and consists of private as well as social housing facilities of approx. 40,000 square metres and commercial facilities of approx. 20,000 square metres. There will be approx. 400 residences, of which approx. 100 will be non-profit rental residences and approx. 300 will be owner-occupied residences (of these approx. 270 flats and 30 terraced houses). The consortium behind Light*house comprises social housing associations AAB and Ringgården together with developer Frederiksbjerg Ejendomme and mixing owner-occupied with rental houses in order to facilitate social multiplicity and middle-income group access to attractive residences is an important ambition in the Light*house project. In this way Light*house meets the Municipality of Århus’ innovative vision of a healthy balance between different types of houses and income groups in the new district. The Municipality required that 25 per cent of the residences would be non-profit rental houses, thus 100 of the 400 houses will be owned by AAB and Ringgården.

In the research and analysis phase we conducted thorough studies of the societal development, cultural trends and living conditions as well as of the location context and considerations of wind and weather conditions. The vision of the Light*house project is to create an attractive city at eye-level with nice houses on top of it. The basic idea of the design was to provide all the residences with a sunny south face and a north view. At this spectacular spot living is all about living the view. Constructions having a façade only structure without rear sides they will appear homogeneous and individual at the same time. In the design the characteristic patterns of the facades reflect the reflections of light in water.

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The Ørestad College is the latest ‘gymnasium’ (college or upper secondary school) in Copenhagen, built in the Danish capital’s development area; Ørestad. The demographic development in greater Copenhagen has resulted in a remarkable growth of the 16 - 19 year group, with Copenhagen needing 50% more study places, and this led to a decision to build a new college in Ørestad City; the new city centre for the entire Ørestad.

Ørestad College offers fields of study within science, social science and human science. The purpose of the college is to realize the latest reform’s (2005) aims to strengthen and renew the students’ professional capabilities, to prepare the students better for university and to enhance the science aspect. This college has chosen a profile of media, communication and culture, and with wireless internet all over the school and with laptops for all students - hence the knick-name the Virtual College.

The brief was deliberately formulated without traditional terms for rooms, and left much to the architects’ interpretation. The proposal was therefore not so much a response to a specifically defined task as an element in the necessary development of the idea of a Danish college.

Four boomerang shaped storey decks rotate in relation to each other like the shutter of a camera. They form the superstructure; the overall framework of the college, and provide space for the college’s four study zones. Each zone is on one level, providing organisational flexibility, with the option of micro adjustment to create different spaces, learning environments and group sizes. The rotation of the storey decks projects a part of each deck into the high central hall. This part is the so called X-zone; a spatial expression of the colleges’ ambition to promote interdisciplinary expertise between study zones with physical and visual links.

The storey decks are open towards a central core, where a broad main staircase winds its way upwards to the roof terrace. The main staircase is the heart of college educational and social life; the primary connection up an down, but also a place to stay, watch and be seen. Three ‘mega columns’ form the primary load bearing system, supplemented by a number of smaller columns positioned according to structural requirement, not as part of a regular grid. As a result, each floor has few permanent elements and can be laid out and rearranged almost completely at will.

The superstructure is supplemented by a series of newly developed ‘room furniture’, which accommodate the need for the flexible and temporary room arrangements and learning environments required by varying group sizes – from one on one to an entire cohort.

The rotated decks are mirrored in the facades. Due to their rotation, the decks create openings double- and triple high while drawing lines on the façade. As a rule, the glass is smooth with the deck fronts, but on each floor, one façade is withdrawn to create an outdoor space. These outdoor spaces are connected from ground to roof. In front of the glass facades, a series of coloured semi-transparent glass louvers can open or close to protect from the sun, while adding dashes of colour to the indoor environment.

Visible from the lively cafes across the water, the new corporate headquarters for a Danish Investment Bank, Saxo Bank has been turning heads since its opening earlier this year.  This striking building, with its playful patterns of white and glass facades, reflects the colors of the surrounding sky and water.  

Inside, the open atrium-lit trading floors are buzzing with activity.  A central spiral staircase creates an open environment with vertical and horizontal sightlines over the young dynamic banking team. 

3XN designed Saxo Bank’s new headquarter to match the young, dynamic internet bank’s cutting edge profile. The expressive structures balance iconographic qualities with trustworthy solidity, while the inside organization encourages interaction and knowledge sharing, making the building an effective and inspiring frame for modern corporate work life.

On the former railway yard, right by the Als Sund in Sønderborg, lies the unusual combination of functions that
form Alsion, a centre for research and culture in southern Denmark. Alsion consists of University of Southern
Denmark, the private research park, Forskerpark Syd, a concert hall and even a DSB ticket office. The main concept is a
series or "comb" of wings separated by atriums. This comb structure breaks down the building complex into a series of
rhythmic strikes, and in scale and principle the individual "houses" in the scheme are similar to the rest of Sønderborg’s buildings facing the sound. Furthermore, this structure allows for additions when needed; hence the concert hall was only added during the project design phase. Building volumes with short gable ends alternate with atria buildings, in order to provide sufficient transparency and daylight. Thus in spite of its size the building fits in with the small town surroundings.

Indoor variation and coherence is considered as well. Like in several others of 3XN’s institution buildings and business buildings the idea is to create particularly excellent conditions for informal meetings, interaction and knowledge sharing. The main part of the ground floor is reserved functions that will bring together researchers, business people and students in both the formal, professional context, but not at least in incidental, informal encounters in the university library, the café, the auditoriums and some of the other "meeting points." Tall, bright rooms open up for views to the sea, and create spatial variation by a lot of internal, visual connections criss-crossing the building. The other three floors contain offices, laboratories and classrooms.

The flooring on all three foyer decks is red polyethylene. The wings are built of in situ cast concrete, covered with pale grey granite. The end walls are of glass and aluminium toward south and west and are equipped with silkscreen decorated glass louvers. The atriums have glass and aluminium facades with silkscreen ornamentation directly on the glass. In general, the surfaces are natural materials in warm colours; ash flooring and acoustic regulating walls in the auditoriums, "the lining" of the meeting box, the covering of the side steps on the seating/stairs in the canteen and a unifying Jura-limestone flooring in the extremely trafficked common areas on the ground floor. The floors in the offices and corridors are cement-based floating floors. The concert hall has become the home of the Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester and great efforts were made to optimise the acoustical conditions especially the reverberation period, for both symphonic performances as well as for amplified music. The hall is sided with ash panels, just as the louvers and floors are of ash. In the foyer in front of the concert hall, the walls into the hall are decorated by artist Olafur Eliasson using titanium-fired "reflective tiles".

On the Alsion project 3XN collaborated with landscape architect Torben Schønherr and engineers Strunge & Hartvigsen, Vejle og Buro Happold, England.

3XN’s Museum of Liverpool is located at a UNESCO World Heritage Site between the Albert Dock and the Pier Head, and next to a row of prominent historic buildings dubbed ‘The Three Graces’.

The building is conceived as inclined or elevated platforms, gradually forming a sculptural structure. The building will be fully accessible and will contribute to the public promenade flow along the Docks. Situated at the Pier Head, the museum will be visible from both the river and the city.

The Museum of Liverpool will become the World ’s leading city history museum, showcasing social history and popular culture and will look at Britain and the world through the eyes of Liverpool.

It is estimated that the new museum will attract at least 750.000 visitors on a yearly basis, and that Liverpool, with the Museum as a symbol of the Liverpool’s ongoing regeneration, will be elevatated into the front rank of European tourist destinations, as well as providing a brilliant place for local families to find out about their own history.

The museum will be a focal point of 2008 when Liverpool becomes European Capital of Culture. It is with this impetus that the first phase of the museum must be complete in October of the celebration year. After the Capital of Culture Year, phase two, the exhibition fit out will begin with the museum completion scheduled for April 2010.

Building Construction period is 2006-2008.

Middelfart, Denmark

Address: Havnegade 21, Middelfart | Client: Trekantens Ejendomsselskab A/S | Award: 1. prize in invited competition 2005 | Completion: 2010 | Size: 5.000 m2 | Architect: 3XN | Engineer: COWI | Landscape Architect: Schønherr | Photo: Adam Mørk | Prize: MIPIM AR Future Projects Award 2006

Middelfart Savings Bank is a key institution in the town of Middelfart, located by the Lillebælt waters on the island of Funen, Denmark. Thus the Savings Bank wanted their new Head Office to provide a new public space for the local citizens as well as an architectural icon for the town and the Savings Bank.

The building is characterized by a dramatic roofscape accommodating multiple functions. 83 prism-like skylights compose the spectacular roof surface defining the geometry of the building – in reference to the maritime environment as well as the surrounding timber framed buildings. Thus, the new Head Office gently reflects and interacts with the dimensions, scales, roofs and cornice lines of the old town.

The roof is specially designed to frame a perfect view towards the water while at the same time shading from direct sunlight; thereby demonstrating a perfect synergy between design and function.

A bookshop, a café, a real estate agent and the cash desk are placed around a central plaza, resulting in the building forming an informal public meeting space at the ground floor level. The Savings Bank work stations are located on three open terraces internally connected by broad staircases encouraging interaction and informal meetings or breaks. All plateaus are endowed with plenty of daylight and an unhindered view to the water.

The working environment is further improved by sustainable features such as natural ventilation and the latest technologies in energy efficient heating and cooling. Thermo active concrete elements facilitate energy savings of 30-50 percent.

Odenplan is a new station for Stockholm’s commuter train, Citybanan. 3XN has designed the entry building for the station as a light and well-integrated urban sculpture. Simple yet complex, the building takes inspiration from a rational rectangular geometry.  The daily flow of people is distributed in a structured and functional way optimizing both traffic and the safety of the station. At the same time the building looks soft, curved and welcoming – and provides a natural platform for resting with a view to the life and movement of the plaza in front.
 
The new entry building is placed parallel to the square’s northern edge and becomes a well-integrated part of the square. A simple rectangular footprint matches the shape of the station beneath the ground. Two solid gables face towards east and west with an elegantly curved roof softly molded between them. From the roof down to the square a broad staircase unfolds and becomes an integrated waiting zone for travelers.
 
With its sculptural form the building aims at giving something back to the city’s public space. The wide staircase simultaneously invites pedestrians to interact with the building and gives travelers a place to dwell. The softness of the stairs encourages recreation and informal meetings, thus creating a dialogue of co-creation with the urban context.
 
Inside and outside the building is clad in durable white ceramic tile which leaves an overall impression of the building as a monolithic white sculpture.

Address: Bella Center, Center Boulevard 5, DK-2300 København S | Client: Copenhagen Congress Center/Bella Center A/S | Award: 1. prize in invited competition 2006 | Completion: 2011 | Size: 42,000 m2 | Rooms: 814 | Budget: 924 mioDKK/€123 m | Architect: 3XN | Engineer: Ramboll | M&E: EKJ A/S

A new landmark hotel and conference center designed by 3XN is first step of the long-anticipated extension of the Bella Center; Copenhagen’s famous Congress Center. The upgrade of Bella Center will add an urban feeling to the place, and the extension will immediately benefit from Bella Center’s perfect location: Situated between the old city core and Orestad; Copenhagen’s growth center, Bella Center is connected to two important worlds of activities, and furthermore it’s close to the Metro as well as the Copenhagen Airport.
Initially, 3XN has worked out a master plan for the entire Bella Center area to establish the right place for the two-tower hotel. The master plan is flexible and may be executed in several phases. It draws upon the classical urban weave of rectangular streets and blocks, but leaves each field open to interpretation.
The two hotel towers stand close as a pair, yet seem a little shy; the towers incline in opposite directions. The reason for this is to obtain an unobstructed view from all rooms in each tower of the flat landscape. The sky was not the limit in this case; flight safety requires a max tower height of 75m (25 floors) this close to the airport, so one tall tower was not an option.
Wind considerations as well as a wish for a landmark signal caused the top twist of one tower, while the wish for a clearly indicated entrance caused the ground floor twist of the other tower. The hotel lobby is merging into the existing entrance lobby of the Bella Center, making the hotel a true integrated part, ready for large events like the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair; this time with rooms for rent.