400 apartments have been under construction at the entrance to Europa-Allee since mid-2016. Almost all of them are already sold. With 51 floors and a living space of 44,000 m², the Grand Tower is an impressive building. The cascade-like cubature of the tower pleases with its organically curved, glacier-white aluminum construction. It is coated with a Teflon coating and envelops balconies and apartments. This makes the façade look very vivid. The aluminum façade element frames, which delimit the interior, are subtle in anthracite color with a slight glitter effect.
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"Because architects and urban planners see a growing trend towards urban living close to the sky, the Grand Tower is a bang for the buck," says Riva boss Hermann Püttmer. Because Germany, in comparison to metropolises like London or Paris, has a growing demand for dense living in tall buildings. That is why around 100 such purely residential high-rise buildings are to be built in Germany in the coming years. Even before completion, the Grand Tower has won international awards. At the European Property Award, the elegant tower achieves several prizes. It is awarded for its architecture and project development. A great honor from London: For the jury, the Grand Tower is the best high-rise residential building in Europe.
Claus Graubner
The transparent facade of the tower consists of 7400 glass panes, 3000 of which ensure that the residents can see through a glass outer skin. All of these were made by the specialist BGT Bischoff from Bretten in south-western Germany, which is part of the Scheuten Group. The building has both apartments and 2- to 4-room units. On the upper floors there are two penthouses with their own roof gardens. All other apartments have balconies that are between one and two meters wide. The residents are protected here by 3400 laminated safety glass and TVG laminated glass panes with a parapet height of 1300 cm. This is almost 20 cm more than required by law. Nevertheless, owners and tenants should be able to withstand high winds. Due to their large facade areas, high-rise buildings stand like sails in the wind. This results in fall winds with speeds of more than 100 km/h.
Let your gaze wander into the distance
However, because the glass façade, combined with an 80 cm wide special space around the entire building, generates and maintains space, it is possible to live here even if one does not have a head for heights. This combination prevents the view from falling on the façade like on a wall. Instead, the resident looks down at the ground at an obtuse angle. This reduces stress reactions and fear of heights. It is like standing on a mountain and letting your gaze wander into the distance.
Almost all the glass in the Grand Tower is double and triple-glazed insulating glass. A total of 14 variants are used. Thicknesses from 8 to 62 mm were used. The thickest and largest pane weighs more than 600 kg. And because the house facade has hardly any corners, but all the more curves, some of the glass panes are bent up to 90 degrees. Facade areas on the north side of the tower are minimized in favor of an east-west orientation. There are no apartments with an exclusively northern orientation.
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To create as much living space as possible on each floor, the Riva designers developed thin vacuum panels. These reduce the wall thickness of the building's outer skin by a third compared to conventional construction methods. Another striking feature is a rainwater drainage system installed between the core of the building and the outer façade, as well as a special composite structure that allows flush window constructions with a wide range of fittings. As a result, the glass-aluminum façade is of such high quality that it is considered a new benchmark for system façades.
Roman Gerike
"The Grand Tower is an example of future-oriented residential construction", Püttmer is certain. With its completion it shows how aesthetically demanding densification in the inner-city area can be achieved. At the same time, the iconic façade offers every resident a private exterior space as well as wind and sun protection. Riva GmbH Engineering is responsible for planning, construction, production as well as pre- and final assembly of the facade.
