TAS, Hamburg (Germany)

From Eye Windows to Ball Joints

USM Modular Furniture as Manufacturers

“Is he allowed to do that?” TAS’s sleek office building, on Hamburg’s Aussenalster, has made waves in the local architecture community with its spectacular facade. The Berlin-based architecture firm Jürgen Mayer H. has dared to challenge Hamburg’s strict “dress code.” Of course, Mayer is in compliance with the building code for new structures along the Alster; he simply stretches it to the limit, clearly enjoying himself in the process. The result is a modern gateway for the Hanseatic City that pulls in wonderful views and dramatically pushes out nine walk-in “eye windows.” The Berlin native, born in 1965, would not live up to his reputation as the John Galliano of architecture if the building’s interior did not speak the same fashionable language as the much discussed exterior. The difference is simply that Mayer intones the interior more softly. Elegant curves and light-colored plaster convey a 1970s lounge atmosphere. Even the edges of the imposing concrete coffered ceiling have been polished. “Of course, as the owners, we wanted the furnishings to match the elegant building,” says Melanie Graw, who is in charge of managing the property for TAS. For this reason, she says, the real estate and investment company chose the USM Modular Furniture Haller – “in anthracite gray, which, in our opinion, creates the most elegant impression."


TAS, Hamburg (Germany) Work environment for ten people Furnishings: USM Haller in anthracite gray, USM Haller tables in pearl gray laminate Sales: by USM Hamburg (Germany) Architect: Jürgen Mayer H., Berlin (Germany)

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J. MAYER H. und Partner as Architects

The building site is situated at the intersection between Hamburg’s lively downtown andits urban landscape that is rich in water and mature trees. It is at the transition from cityto nature, and the gateway building to the bustling metropolitan core.


The horizontal striped facade with its floating “eyes” celebrates the view onto this uniquecontext. A public park in front of the building continues the design strategy of the facadeinto the landscape. The “eyes” in the facade and the platforms in the park enable theplaces to meet and contemplate.


The office spaces serve both a generic spatial layout and specific momentsrelated to the “eyes”. Large spans provide for various office layout configurations incombination with balconies and climatically tempered outdoor spaces of the “eyes”.The eyes are just a bigger space inside the double skin facade, which work the sameas the whole facade.


This kind of facade highly economizes on energy, because the windows of the innerfacade can be used to ventilate. This is the reason why no additional air conditioningis needed for the office building. In Germany, the companies mostly don’t wantbuildings with air conditioning because of the high running costs. Furthermore an airconditioning is also problematic in terms of health conditions. In addition to that theconcrete core activation system inside the concrete ceilings cools the buildingduring summertime and heats it during wintertime with the help of water. Thewarmed surfaces allow lower heating costs in wintertime and thus save energy.


The office building “An der Alster 1” links its interior and exterior spaces to the publicpark in front of the building and to the city context of Hamburg, becoming a newanchor at the prestigious Aussenalster waterfront.

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