City Gate (Frankfurt) Explained

Building Name:Büro Center Nibelungenplatz
Former Name:Shell Tower
Location:Nibelungenplatz 3
Frankfurt
Hesse, Germany
Coordinates:50.1286°N 8.6917°W
Start Date:1964
Completion Date:1966
Building Type:Commercial offices
Architectural Style:Modernism
Roof:110m (360feet)
Floor Count:27
Floor Area:32000m2
Architect:Fritz Meinel
Günther Rheingaus
Novotny Mähner Assoziierte
References:[1]

City Gate, formerly Büro Center Nibelungenplatz (known as BCN) and Shell Tower, is a 27-storey, 110m (360feet) skyscraper in the Nordend-West district of Frankfurt, Germany. The building was constructed in 1966. It was one of Frankfurt's first buildings to reach over 50m (160feet), and it remains the tallest building in the Nordend district. It is located at Nibelungenplatz, a busy junction in the Nordend.

History

Construction

Büro Center Nibelungenplatz was designed by Novotny Mähner Assoziierte and part of the entire northern Alleenring comprehensive development plan, which provided for conversion to freeway and spot high-rises at all major intersections. The plan was however not followed up at another building at the intersection with the highway Eschersheimer further. The skyscraper at Nibelungenplatz was built from 1964 to 1966 for the oil companies Shell and was then the first skyscraper in Frankfurt to reach 100m (300feet). In the cellar a fallout shelter was included, later used as a garage.

Reconstruction

The original facade followed the international style, made up of suspended aluminum plates, no longer exists. In 1993 the tower was renovated by Novotny Mähner Assoziierte, by cladding it in glass and equipping it with a panoramic lift.

Tenants

The tower is headquarters of the General Consulate of the Kingdom of Spain. Other tenants include the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Merz Pharma, M. Page, Financial Times Europe, SCF,, REWE and a Subway restaurant.

City Gate was until 2013 a permanent shooting location for the ZDF television series Ein Fall für zwei (A Case for Two), because the lawyer's fictional law firm was sited in that building.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Emporis building ID 109788 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160307023432/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/109788 . dead . March 7, 2016 . Emporis.