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The Stadttor Dusseldorf is the result of a competition among nine renowned architectural teams. The winner of the competition was Overdiek, Petzinka & Partners. The result is a rhomboidal building, 75 meters high with 16 floors. The design of the building, which opened in January of 1998, took human needs as a priority. This priority resulted in a novel double-skin design integrated with a unified ventilation and climate control system. It is interesting to note that the busiest highway in Dusseldorf runs underneath the building.

The Stadttor features a 56m high atrium (tallest in Europe) for cross and stack ventilation , as well as natural day lighting. The most notable feature is the double-skin façade. The outer façade is a “secondary “skin” suspended from the roof of the building like a glass curtain. Behind this façade are walk able spaces, 1.4 meters wide. The office façade is built of beech-framed windows featuring a heat-protective glazing going from floor-to-ceiling.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the design, monitoring data was taken on the building over a period of six months beginning in January of 2000. The overall energy

consumption has been less than expected, while the ability to control climate has turned out to be better than expected. A complete assessment of the performance of the building is not possible because the summer time climate, since the Stadttor was completed, has been fairly moderate.

Based on personal observations, the Stadttor Dusseldorf is yet another example of a building designed with very forward thinking. What is most notable about the building is the large width of the double skin façade gap. Because airflow through the façade is unrestricted from top to bottom, it appears that there may issues regarding air quality and noise. In fact, during the visit, it was sometimes possible to hear sounds from other offices traveling down the double-skin gap. All in all though, the building is remarkable architecturally and appears to use natural ventilation effectively. The building was presented in 1998 with the MIPIM Award for best office building and a Jury Prize for best building in general.

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