UNStudio selected for new hotel tower in Frankfurt

Amsterdam-based UNStudio and Kohn, Pedersen, Fox of New York have been selected to design a 110-metre Grand Hyatt hotel in Frankfurt.

The new tower will house a five-star-plus hotel with 405 rooms and suites, a ballroom, spa, various restaurants, a lobby bar and a public Sky Lounge on the top floor, and the possibility of an adjacent congress centre. The hotel tower consists of 22 floors at a height of approximately 110 metres and an area of 54,562.70 m² for hotel tower and plinth.

The design celebrates and highlights the cosmopolitan character and diversity of Frankfurt, said Ben van Berkel of UNStudio. 'It has three different elevations that are linked to the different aspects of the city. The tower takes up the variation and diversity offered by the city of Frankfurt and reflects that multiplicity of experiences back to the city itself. The tower can be perceived differently from each perspective; it appears needle-thin from one spot, strong and straight from another, and complex with a slight twist from yet another.'

The new hotel will be located opposite the high-rise office Tower 185 which is currently under construction. The first building to be realised in Frankfurt's Europaviertel was the Mövenpick Hotel. Along with a number of apartments and office buildings a second hotel, the Meininger Hotel, is also currently under construction.

The jury chairman Prof. Eisele lauded the designs by UNStudio and Kohn, Pedersen Fox 'as they present a type of high-rise which does not yet exist in this form in Frankfurt. The contribution by UNStudio demonstrates how harmony can be created between extensive functional demands and the high requirements of exterior and interior design.'

The new Grand Hyatt, as part of the ensemble Skyline Plaza, marks the entrance of the Europe Allee. Following completion, the Europe District will offer 1,000 beds of different categories. The Europe District is growing rapidly: the first residential building will be completed in spring 2009, with two more to follow in 2010.

The construction of the first office building, which will house the German headquarters of BNP Paribas, started in the autumn of 2008 and will be realised mid-2010. The four-star Mövenpick Hotel Frankfurt City was realised in 2006. In February 2008 Vivico closed a lease contract with the Berlin hotel group Meininger. The new hotel at the entrance of the Torhause is also already under construction and will be opened in 2010.