The Allianz Kai Office and Service Centre is an extraordinary building - at
least for the city of Frankfurt. Instead of reaching for the sky, as is so typical
in the business quarter of this financial city, the Allianz opted instead
for a low-level complex stretching along the bank of the River Main.
The new complex of buildings blends in harmoniously with the existing architecture on the bank of the River Main, by consciously creating a counterpoint to the office buildings on the opposite bank
of the river. The eye is drawn to the 16- storey high-rise building located directly on the Friedensbrücke. It marks the gateway to the complex and forms a transition between the closed six-floor perimeter blocks along the Stresemannallee and the transparent "ridge" structure
along the River Main.
Daylight control system
External venetian blind, E80AF TLT, with two areas of blind that can be
tilted separately, partially with fully perforated slats.
Sun and glare protection
Optimum lighting right to the very
depths of the work space
The perforations in the slats ensure that visual contact is
maintained with the outside world
Improved "well-being" in the work place
Improved performance, lower absenteeism
Lower energy cots by reducing
the cooling requirement and need for artificial lighting
Natural lighting
The Allianz Kai high-rise building has a double skin cladding. The point-supported exterior cladding provides protection
from the weather and helps to shield the building from external noise. The fullheight windows in the interior façade provide
natural ventilation for the work space. However, this large expanse of
glazing results in a high incidence of solar radiation entering the building and
requires sun shading systems to be fitted
- an issue that HPP Architects focused on at the design stage.
Daylight control
To provide effective use of daylight, the
majority of the glazing throughout all of
the building complex was fitted with external WAREMA venetian blinds. Two
separately adjustable blind areas, provided by the daylight-control system, provide sun and glare protection at the work
place, as well as the best possible lighting in the building. In the high-rise building, WAREMA external venetian blinds were fitted in the façade void. Daylight control systems help to improve the energy
efficiency of buildings, in that they regulate the amount of solar heat that enters the building and so have an effect
on the thermal comfort felt by the users.
The basis of the external venetian blinds on the Allianz Kai building are convexshaped aluminium slats. On the high-rise
building, the slats are fully-perforated, which allows them to appear transparent even when they are closed, thus ensuring
that contact with the outside world is retained as far as possible. The slats in
the upper third of the blind, deflect the light onto the ceiling of the interior. This guarantees even and glare-free lighting
right into the depths of the space - even when the lower slats are closed. This increases the employees' feeling of wellbeing
at work and lowers the energy costs of artificial light. The external venetian
blind system can also be adjusted manually by the user using an operating
unit, if required.
Anti-glare protection
In order to avoid reflections and glare at the work place, the architects also opted for the use of an internal glare protection
system. A customised solution was developed in close collaboration with
WAREMA, tailored specifically to the design of the Allianz Kai façade. The clever feature of WAREMA's back-pull roller blinds, manufactured from transparent Trevira fabric, is that they are concealed within the floor - both the drive and roller blind are accommodated in a box made
of extruded aluminium concealed in a convector duct. This means that the roller blinds can be adjusted from bottom to top up to a maximum height of 1.80 metres. For design reasons, the guide rails run
the full height of the space.
Anti-glare protection
Customised back-pull roller blinds
with a transparent panel made of Trevira fabric
Concealed installation of the
drive and
roller blind in the floor
Electrical operation from bottom to top
Visual contact to the outside
Highly flame-resistant material
No annoying reflections and
glare at the
work place
Internal roller blinds with a transparent
panel made of Trevira fabric
Fitted at the top between the
guide rails
Operated by a central pull cord
from top to bottom
Visual contact to the outside
Highly flame-resistant material
No annoying reflections and
glare at the
work place
These well-coordinated sun shading elements guarantee protection from the
sun's heat and glare in summer and thus also provide optimum working conditions.
more information...
WAREMA International GmbH
Hans-Wilhelm-Renkhoff-Str. 2 •
D-97828 Marktheidenfeld / Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 9391 20-3883 •
Fax: +49 (0) 9391 20-3889
E-Mail: info@warema.com •
Mehr Info: www.warema.com
