Commerzbank: A Sustainable Skyscraper Norman Foster

Architecture 489
Christian Noble
Structure Innovations
68
Commerzbank:
A Sustainable Skyscraper
Norman Foster
Commerzbank: Frankfurt, Germany
Norman Foster’s Commerzbank in Frankfurt,
Germany is a testament to large-scale, sustainable urban structures. Combined with
strict German laws for the work environment
and the growing desire for sustainable urban architecture, Foster creates a piece
that not only meets those requirements, but
defines space not scene before in high-rise
design.
Winter gardens allow vast amounts of light
deep within the building and provide pleasant views to those working deeper within
the building. Operable facades create
natural ventilation throughout the entire
structure.
Commerzbank, the tallest building in Europe,
demonstrates that sustainable, energy
concious design is possible at the scale of
the skyscraper.
Commerbank (Foster)
Commerbank Perspective Rendering
Architecture 489
Christian Noble
Structure Innovations
69
Plan Development
To provide the spaces and building layout
necessary to create some of the sustainable
features desired, an unorthodox plan was
essential.
Creating a central attrium space in a highrise building is not a simple task. First of all,
the typical building layout includes a centralized core area for circulation, mechanical, and other basic building needs. To
achieve this, the core functions were
pushed to the outer corners of the building
to make way for the atrium space.
Typical Floor Plan (Buchanan)
Site Plan (Buchanan)
Architecture 489
Christian Noble
Structure Innovations
70
Winter Garden Section (Buchanan)
Section Development
Development of the section was essential
to the effort of building sustainability in terms
of lighting and ventilation. Winter gardens
had to be rotated around the facade of
the building. This created voids in the sections and therefore long spans in each direction.
The central atrium of the building was a
major part of the sectional development.
This space was free of structural members
with the excetion of those used to frame
the skylights which divide the building up
into sections vertically. It was essential for
there to be minimal intrusion into this space
because it provided light both vertically,
from the glass roof at the atrium’s top, and
horizontally, from the winter garden facades to the office across the atrium.
Building Section (Buchanan)
Architecture 489
Christian Noble
Structure Innovations
71
Structure Development
To support the large spans of the winter
gardens, special attention was paid to the
structural system of the building. First of all,
the triangular-shaped plan provided the
rigid structural support only provided by an
equilateral triangle. At each corner of this
triangle, the cores are located. Here is provided the vertical load support for the entire structure. Eight floor deep, Verendeel
trusses provide the structure to span the
gardens between the core vertical load
members. All of these strucutral elements
wrapped around a central void allow the
building’s structure to carry loads like a tube,
a very efficient method for forming a structure.
Massing Axonometric Tendering
Structural Axonometric (Buchanan)
Architecture 489
Christian Noble
Structure Innovations
72
Natural, Central Lighting
Lighting the interior of the building was a
very important design factor. Since the offices in the building wrapped along both
the exterior and interior facades, those on
the interior needed to be provided with an
ample exterior light source as per German
law. This is provided all day long because
the winter gardens are rotated around the
building to capture light at all times of the
day.
June AM Shadow Diagram
June PM Shadow Diagram
Architecture 489
Christian Noble
Structure Innovations
73
Natural, Central Lighting
The diagrams on this and the previous page
illlustrate the penetraion of light into the central space of the building’s atrium in the
morning and afternoon during both summer and winter. When the sun is low in the
sky, light penetrates the facades of the winter gardens. When the sun is higher, the
glass ceiling at the top of the atrium allows
light in which reflects back and forth
throughout the entire core of the building.
December AM Shadow Diagram
December PM Shadow Diagram
Architecture 489
Christian Noble
Structure Innovations
74
Typical View from Deck (Buchanan)
Winter Gardens
The winter gardens in this building provide
a great number of fuctions.
One, the gardens provide a buffer zone of
inulation between the central atrium space
and the outdoors.
Two, the stacked gardens allow for ventilation through the atrium which is divided into
sections as the building goes upward.
Winter Garden - Interior (Evans)
Three, mass quantities of natural light are
brought directly to the center of the building from its base to the top.
Four, offices facing the center of the building are provided light and exterior views
through the gardens.
And finally, the garden spaces provide a
much more green, natural space for those
working in the building which is something
lacking in the typical urban work environment.
Winter Garden - Exterior (Evans)
Winter Gardens (Evans)
Architecture 489
Christian Noble
Structure Innovations
75
Winter Gardens
Massing Axonometric
Architecture 489
Christian Noble
Exploded Axonometric
Structure Innovations
76
Architecture 489
Christian Noble
Structure Innovations
77
Facade
The design of the layered, operable facade
on this project is central to the issue of
sustainablity. These facades allow for ventilation on the scale of the office just as the
winter gardens provide ventilation for the
entire building.
Strict German laws exist regulating employee comfort in the work environment.
Aside from a well ventilated workspace,
lighting is of great concern. Virtually all offices must have a window to provide light
and a view outside. These facades provide that light in quantities sufficient to
make the workplace pleasant.
The drawing at the bottom is of the original
facade design. Note that both intake of
fresh air and exhaust of old air take place in
the same area within the facade. The built
design provides for the separation of these
two making for much more efficient ventilation.
Facade Light and Ventilation Diagram (Evans)
Original Facade Design (Evans)
Architecture 489
Christian Noble
Bibliography
Buchanan, Peter. “Reinventing the SkyScraper.” A and U. no 329, February
1998. 30-67.
“Commerzbank-Zentrale in Frankfurt am
Main.” Baumeister. May 1997. 18-27.
Evans, Barrie. “Banking on Ventilation.”
AJ Building Study. Februdary 1997.
Foster,
Norman
and
Partners.
“Commerzbank.”
http://www.fosterandpartners.com
Structure Innovations
78