DZ Bank Gets A Reclad

Recycling is an increasingly popular way these days to breathe new life into an old tower, and that's exactly what's being done to Selmi-Hochhaus (also known as City Haus), a dated office block in the German city of Frankfurt.

Originally designed by Krahn and Heil and built between 1971 and 1974, the skyscraper ran into trouble before it was even completed as a fire ripped through it gutting the top three floors and preventing completion for a year. Standing 143 metres tall it held the title of Germany's tallest skyscraper until 1976.

The building ended up looking a rather tired brown international style tower when compared with the more modern buildings that dominate Frankfurt's central business district and occupier DZ Bank wanted it to get a fresh look.

Work has taken only a year and involved mostly stripping the exterior of the building and giving it an entirely new façade but the aim is to retain the feeling of tribute the original architects tried to imbue in the building to Mies van der Rohe with silver grey cladding maintaining the current lines between the new reflective glass.

Other improvements have involved taking the fire stairs between the two slabs of the tower and recladding them with them being illuminated at night to completely transform the look of the building.

With each piece of cladding replaced panel for panel with virtually no gaps in between DZ Bank has been able to continue using their headquarters without the pesky hassle of relocating whilst work is on going.