“CASA ALTRA” DÜSSELDORF

The office building currently under construction and scheduled to be completed in July (2012) is the latest in a series of buildings included in a draft Masterplan for a block of office, commercial and residence buildings on the outskirts of Düsseldorf. The complex was the subject of a competition on invitation held by the Rheinmetall and IKB. The area included in a new development plan on the outskirts of the city and overlooking the intersection of two thoroughfares, has inspired the design intent to redefine the urban districts. The street fronts, delimitated by a curtain of greenery and sloping walls as to draw the walls of a citadel, expressed the desire to turn inward. Here a new residential area took shape on an elliptical plan with a large public park crossed by a pedestrian and bike path that connects a park near the shore of the great river Rhine.
The building represents a segment of the entire complex, which changed over the years due to the piecemeal sale of the lots. His rhomboidal plan, its sloping sides and the glass volume stuck on the ground, besides communicating the dynamism of the new district, mark the synergy of the building with the entrance of the greenway on one side and the access to the new district from the other. The courtyard with its vertical walls that form with the outer walls a variety of depths of the building at each floor allow to create interesting spaces to suit different needs of the client. We can thus derive combinations of individual offices and large open spaces.
There are two main entrances, which can allow the subdivision of the seven levels (ground floor + 5 floors + 1 penthouse) timeshare.
The building also contains two underground floors for parking with 249 parking spaces and warehouses.
On the ground floor there are two entrance foyer, offices and a public reception for a large restaurant and cafeteria with kitchen.
The courtyard will host a work of art in a green space consisting of plants of bamboo and yew with a gravel floor that will limit access just like a classic cloister.
The shape of the building consists of two volumes and presents itself as a piece of pyrite. In addition to the low volume of transparent glass, the volume is in fact predominantly covered with aluminum panels painted with three different shades of gray that make it all shiny and iridescent in the sun
 

COMPETITION  2001

Architect
Mario Bellini

Design Team
Mario Bellini with Loretto Buti

Project Team
Loretto Buti and Reinhold Wuttke. With  Matteo Bulli, Egle de Luca, Giovanni Pigni, Alessandro Zufferli

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT 2001-2003

Architect
Mario Bellini

Design Team
Mario Bellini with Loretto Buti, Reinhold Wuttke

Project Team
Loretto Buti (project architect) with Reinhold Wuttke, Giulio Casteggini, Maurizio Di Lauro, Alessandro Zufferli.   

Consultants
Structure: IDN Ingenieurbüro
Mechanical: Huber Ingenieur Technik
Landscape: Land Srl

COSTRUCTION PHASE 2010 - 2012

Architect
Mario Bellini

Design Team
Mario Bellini with Loretto Buti, Alessandro Brambilla

Project Team
Loretto Buti (project architect) with Alessandro Brambilla, Flavia Sandelewsky, Luca Bosetti   

Local Architect: Hartmann Architekten BDA
Contruction: General Contractor: august heine baugesellschaft ag

Consultants
Structure: B. Walter Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH
Mechanical: Huber Ingenieur Technik
Security: Corall Ingenieure GmbH
FIsica: IG - THOR
Landscape: Fürst Architects GmbH