Seven steps into the future
A quarter of a century ago, southwest of the Frankfurt Trade Fair: Goods trains and trucks shunted on endless logistics areas, it was noisy and squeaky. Today, this is exactly where people relax above the city's rooftops, electric vehicles hum, intelligent technology orchestrates light and warmth.
Anyone who wants to experience how metropolises reinvent themselves will find what they are looking for in Frankfurt's Europaviertel. On the former site of the freight station, the new district combines living, working and shopping. The preliminary highlight of this development measures 66 metres to the top: the SOLID Home high-rise residential building offers amenities such as smart home technology and west-facing terraces in 200 flats. It is completely designed to meet the requirements of sustainable mobility and vertical densification. The elegant interior design includes TECEdrainprofiles made of brushed stainless steel, which were used in 120 bathrooms.
Thinking the city of the future
"Mainhattan" - Frankfurt has had this nickname for decades. But while (almost) all life on the Hudson River takes place in skyscrapers, for a long time only the bank headquarters grew skywards on the Main. This is changing rapidly: Frankfurt urgently needs new concepts for living, for holistic living and mobility worlds. Because the economic metropolis attracts people from all over the world - the airport as a hub makes the city attractive as a home base, especially for cosmopolitan and hypermobile people. In addition to adapting the infrastructure, living space must be created. The solution is vertical densification, i.e. living at lofty heights - a concept that finds its provisional completion in the SOLID Home.
At the cutting edge
"High-rise residential buildings are the future of urban development - they offer a lot of space on a small footprint in a central location and thus solve other challenges of the future such as energy efficiency and connections to public transport," emphasises Matthias Koch, head of the Frankfurt office at KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten. "However, they must be sensitively integrated into the urban context. SOLID Home develops vertically out of its neighbourhood from a closed perimeter block development and creates a bridge between low-rise development and high-rise by staggering the floors."
An elegant ensemble
Despite its 21 floors, the SOLID Home blends harmoniously into its lower surroundings - thanks to its two plinth buildings, each with seven floors. The cascade shape lends the high-rise a lightness. The buildings are grouped around a green inner courtyard, which is available to all residents, and complete the ensemble. From elegant flats to flats for couples and families to spacious penthouses with a breathtaking view of the skyline and Taunus, the complex offers floor plans for every lifestyle. And the spacious lobby area offers ample opportunity for people to meet.
Focus on urban mobility
Anyone who plans living and working in a central location for many people must inevitably also think about their mobility. Especially in urban conurbations, this will change fundamentally in the coming years - the private car with a combustion engine will play a subordinate role; instead, various forms of micro-mobility with electric vehicles will increase. Sustainable concepts anticipate this change and turn it into a locational advantage. For example, the SOLID Home offers conclusive answers to questions regarding moving and stationary traffic, conventionally powered cars as well as electric vehicles: the building has an underground car park with a total of 142 parking spaces, 37 of which are equipped with charging stations for electric vehicles. For sustainable mobility, residents can access five car-sharing vehicles in the underground car park - a key management system makes this possible around the clock, 365 days a year. In the spirit of clean micro-mobility, 239 parking spaces and charging stations for e-bikes are also available there. The Europaviertel is well connected to long-distance traffic and the airport. Inner-city destinations such as the trade fair, main railway station and old town can be reached quickly by public transport or by bike.
Stylish and smart - the pillars of the future concept
SOLID Home sets standards for trend-setting cosiness and first-class comfort: the stylish material world of real wood parquet, chrome fittings and porcelain stoneware is successfully combined with intelligent Smart Home technology. The high-quality furnishings create a refined ambience and the intelligent control system provides the necessary comfort, orchestrating not only lighting, blinds and heating but also door communication and other devices according to individual needs.
TECE: technical and aesthetic sophistication
What applies to the building structure is continued in the room concepts and bathrooms. Here, a stylistic idiom that is as generous as it is straightforward will still be appealing decades from now. Stylish accents come from TECE: In 120 flats, TECEdrainprofiles made of brushed stainless steel were used for the water drainage of the floor-level showers - drainage reduced to the essentials.
The elegant shower profiles score points with their attractive design, efficient functionality and the option of cutting them to the exact length of the shower area on both sides and installing them flush with the niche. The flush niche design of the TECEdrain profiles particularly supports the uniform aesthetics of large-format tiles. The stainless steel rail is only 55 millimetres narrow and, when installed flush with the wall, does not impair the high-quality appearance. The aesthetics of the TECEdrain profiles emphasise the clear room structure and ensure maximum functionality. Externally, the shower profile can be cleaned simply with a cloth, without any rust removal as with shower channels. The internal slope optimises water drainage and the self-cleaning effect, thus additionally reducing the cleaning effort.
Very big also in detail
With this perfection in detail, the SOLID Home achieves what only a few objects do: to be just as impressive up close as it is from a great distance.
Photos SOLID Home: © Markus Bredt for KSP Engel
Pictures TECEdrainprofile: TECE