ACME has won an international competition for the design of the new headquarters of the Sächsische AufbauBank (SAB) in Leipzig, Germany. All submitted competition designs will be on display in Leipzig from 7 to 18 October 2013.
The Sächsische AufbauBank has a major presence in Dresden and is planning to build a new headquarters building in Leipzig to accommodate 600 members of staff, a conference centre, canteen and parking space, along with a major new public space.
ACME's proposal for the SAB develops the traditional typology of a bank as an imposing institution representing stability, permanence and strength into a contemporary design for a bank of the 21st century. The traditional columns, acting as a transition between inside and outside, have been dissolved into a forest of supports carrying an overarching roof that covers the entirety of the site.
The columns and roof provide a sense of visual and acoustic enclosure towards the adjacent highway and integrate shading and passive cooling functions for the office spaces. This allows the offices to be open and transparent towards the new public space, creating an efficient, yet loose array of stacked and overlapping office floor-plates to accommodate the many differing departments of the SAB.
Efficient shading and insulation in combination with activated exposed concrete surfaces and decentralised ventilation will create a simple, yet highly sustainable bank of the future – and an important new public institution in the centre of Leipzig.
