Dreischeibenhaus, International Style skyscraper in Stadtmitte, Germany.
Dreischeibenhaus is a 94-meter tower block in Stadtmitte, Germany, made of three parallel rectangular slabs with different heights that meet at several intersection points. These three glass volumes rise above the surrounding streets and create a distinctive structure of overlapping transparent planes.
Construction began in 1957 as headquarters for Phoenix-Rheinrohr AG and was completed in 1960 during a period of German economic recovery. Helmut Hentrich and Hubert Petschnigg designed the building with the aim of redefining modernist architecture in a previously destroyed neighborhood.
The name comes from the three parallel, upright slabs, about 8.5 m wide each, that recall steel bramms; the middle slab is the tallest at 96 m and 26 storeys. The building was nicknamed 'Prinz Aurels Pyramide' after Phoenix-Rheinrohr director Fritz-Aurel Goergen. Since December 2015 the restaurant Phoenix has occupied the former telephone exchange on the ground floor.
The three slabs are offset and only about 8.5 m wide, with the middle one reaching 26 storeys; the access corridors sit in the joints between them and the lifts and sanitary rooms in the core where the slabs overlap. The building stands on Dreischeibenhaus street by the Hofgarten, opposite the Schauspielhaus on Gustaf-Gründgens-Platz. The two-storey lobby and the roof terraces are not open to passers-by.
The building received the MIPIM Award for Best Refurbishment in 2015 following a renovation that added roof terraces. The refurbished space now covers 35,000 square meters (approximately 377,000 square feet) of office area, all while preserving the original three-part form.
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