Grüntuch Ernst Wins Porsche Tower Competition

John Hill

28. May 2015

1st Prize: Grüntuch Ernst Architekten (All images courtesy of Porsche Design)

Grüntuch Ernst Architekten has been named the first-prize winner in a competition to design the Porsche Design Tower, a new apartment building in Frankfurt.

The Porsche Design Tower is billed as "Europe's first branded building," with features that include fully furnished "Porsche Design Suites," exclusively designed boutique apartments, and an "unusual multi-level car park with electric charging stations and car-sharing opportunities." From the twenty architecture firms in the closed competition, which included six invited firms (five completed designs, their entries highlighted at bottom), the jury* selected one winner and three runners-up:

1. Prize (Prize money € 100,000)
Grüntuch Ernst Architekten, Berlin, Germany

2. Prize (Prize money € 62,500)
blauraum architekten, Hamburg, Germany

3. Prize (Prize money € 50,000)
Meixner Schlüter Wendt, Frankfurt, Germany

4. Prize (Prize money € 37,500)
Behnisch Architekten, Stuttgart, Germany

Per the announcement, "The start of construction and sales launch is planned for the beginning of 2016. The project will be completed by the beginning of 2018."

*Jury members included Michael Frielinghaus (Friedberg, Germany), Kees Christaanse (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) and Karin Schmid (Munich, Germany), landscape architects, representatives of the city of Frankfurt, the Porsche Design Group and from the competition initiators P+B Planen und Bauen.