BASF Office Building

Ludwigshafen, 20th June 2013 – The official groundbreaking ceremony for the new BASF office building was carried out today by the manager of BASF’s Ludwigshafen plant, Friedrich Seitz, Head of BASF’s IS&SCO Division, Robert Blackburn, the Mayor of the City, Eva Lohse and the Managing Director of Bilfinger Hochbau GmbH, Christian Glock. “A new building will be created here during the next few months whose design responds decisively to the varied needs of our employees. A place which”, according to Seitz, “facilitates uncomplicated, flexible and efficient cooperation”.

The Frankfurt office of ATP architects engineers (ATP Frankfurt) won the competition and the commission to design the new office building for BASF as a result of a concept study carried out for Bilfinger Hochbau GmbH. Two separate building volumes take on the urban framework of the district while also responding to the looser structure of the surrounding residential area. The result is two buildings of the same size but with different footprints, one organized around an internal courtyard and another whose open areas address the surroundings. The buildings are connected at ground floor level by a transparent element containing circulation space and a series of public uses.

Special attention was paid to the design of the façades, the ecological elements and the open areas. Each of the internal courtyards - which are designed as areas for retreat and relaxation – is landscaped in line with a different theme and offers employees a very special quality of stay.

The holistic energy concept of the project combines highly efficient technology with a building envelope designed to reduce thermal losses. The focus is on a sustainable and ecological constructional approach which includes the use of locally occurring renewable materials and long-lasting building elements and materials.