Franklin Grüne Mitte

The construction project on the former US military base in Franklin comprises the new construction of a shopping centre in the form of a walkable green hill and a residential building "floating" above it. Beneath the surface of the hill, which was created using a timber structure, there is a multi-storey car park in the basement, commercial space and restaurants on the ground floor and offices on three further levels. The residential building, whose character is borrowed from the historic buildings, has four storeys and features arcades and loggias.

The hill's complex shape was achieved using a triangular mesh that divides its surface into regular triangles. These triangles are constructed from three straight beams, creating a flat surface suitable for construction. The structural system of the residential building consists of reinforced concrete floors supported by steel trusses and columns. Additionally, bracing is provided by two reinforced concrete cores clamped in the basement box. The ‘Europa Achse’, which runs through the center of the entire neighborhood, divides the hill into two parts. The planning challenge was to adapt the column grid for the residential building and the hill, resulting in spans of up to 20 meters.

The energy targets are the ‘KfW Effizienzhaus’ and the ‘Effizienzgebäude 55 Standard’.