New German Embassy

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2009

The office building is usually considered the role model of the globally uniform and generic typology. The resulting universally efficient workspace serves all work environments, in all climate zones. In our dealing with the demands of the new German Embassy, the fallacy of this perception became obvious. The brief asked for an „efficient“ office building stripped off any representational demands associated with ambassadorial protocol. Instead, it was asked to be a showcase for energy-efficient German engineering. In response we developed a new tropical office typology: the ‚Open Core’ simultaneously addressing “efficiency” of work flow and the extreme tropical climate. Both in section and in plan a void ‚foyer’ is surrounded by the office infrastructure on each of its six sides: a pair of ‚office rows’, a pair of staircases and a pair of cisterns, transforming the region’s limitless supply of rainwater and sunlight into cool dry air. Vertical „light showers“ animate the open-core foyer. The mist of the adiabatic cooling system breaks the daylight in these tubes, creating a mysterious presence. By merging the architectural and environmental strategies into a coherent typology, the building develops a relevance far beyond its physical presence. This is the new office typology for all fast-growing South-East Asian economies.