herzog & de meuron organizes munich office complex around 'urban forest'

swiss firm herzog & de meuron has been appointed to design a large-scale office complex in the center of munich. the project is a redevelopment and expansion of a former post office headquarters, located in close proximity to the german city’s main railway station. the client’s brief required an up-to-date, urban block that would accommodate a mixture of downtown uses and meet the highest standards of quality and sustainability — a task the architects believed could be best achieved by reusing the existing structure.

image © herzog & de meuron (also main image)

the future ehemalige postbank karree building will house mostly offices, with retail space and restaurants at street level. importantly, the scheme is articulated around a large courtyard garden, which will be accessible to the entire neighborhood. ‘the garden will become a magnet for the area around the main station, an oasis protected from the incessant rush of traffic, an urban forest, a green lung for the neighborhood,’ explains herzog & de meuron. ‘evaporative cooling and natural air purification through large leaves and photosynthetic processes will generate a microclimate.’

image © herzog & de meuron

‘what is unusual and novel about this project is the radical reconstruction of an urban block, while reusing about 80% of the existing structure,’ explains jacques herzog. ‘into this block we mold, in a single gesture, an inner courtyard, like a large vessel with plants, flowers, trees: a garden — accessible to everyone. a model of how to increase the density as well as the beauty of a city.’ completion of the project is targeted for 2024.

image © herzog & de meuron

project info:

name: ehemalige postbank karree
location: munich, germany
architect: herzog & de meuron
herzog & de meuron partners: jacques herzog, pierre de meuron, christine binswanger, robert hösl (partner in charge)
herzog & de meuron project team: santiago espitia berndt (associate), patrick holl (project manager), thorben bazlen (project architect), bartosz bukowski, loïc cao, victoria collar ocampo, paul feeney, dominic fohrer, sebastian gubernatis, vasilis kalisperakis, jens ljunggren, david lüken, ida madsen, erminia mossi, magnus möschel, catherine pabst, artemis pefani, bálint rigó, anna salvioni, florian stroh, christian szalay, antonella trusgnach, julian vogt
client: correo munich real estate s.à.r.l.