ALTE OPER FRANKFURT A.M.

ARCHITECT: BUERO WAGNER, LOCATION:FRANKFURT AM MAIN, SIZE: 3000 m2, YEAR: 2016, IMAGES: BUEROWAGNER, INVITED COMPETITION 1ST PRIZE AHEAD OF ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS

Buero Wagner to craft golden hall inside Frankfurt's historic opera house

German architecture studio Buero Wagner have won a high-profile commission to renovate Frankfurt’s historic concert hall and opera house. The Alte Oper – rebuilt four decades ago after the original 1880s structure was destroyed during the Second World War – is one of Germany’s leading cultural venues; with 450,000 people attending around 400 concerts a year. In order to create additional spaces for concertgoers to gather and socialise before and after performances, plans are in place to transform one of the building’s foyers into a multipurpose meeting venue. Buero Wagner have won the design competition for the project with their vision for a “room within a room” – inspired by a valuable golden casket – slotted within the existing structural elements. Large revolving doors and a turntable system will allow multiple configurations of the space; meeting a number of different spatial, organistional and acoustic demands.“The atmospheric design proceeds from the dialogue with the existing architecture; it’s valuable, warm and can be modified and adapted for different target groups,” said the studio in a statement. “The design integrates itself to a high degree into the protected building structure by not affecting border and transition zones. It also has design attitude – with the golden, simple building body located within a black interspace.”A matrix of LED lights will be installed in the ceiling so that displays of graphics and writing can be created for visitors. The renovation of the Alte Oper is the latest in a string of high-profile architectural concert venue projects in Germany. Last year saw the opening of Herzog and de Meuron’s dazzling Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, while 2017 has seen the arrival of Frank Gehry’s Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin and von Gerkan, Marg and Partners’ Kulturpalast in Dresden.

Text: Kim Megson for CLAD