Hall of Silence, part of the building Q2 of Thyssenkrupp Quarter, Essen
Client: Thyssenkrupp AG, Essen
1st Prize Competition 2006 together with Chaix & Morel et Associés, Paris
Completion 2011
The Hall of Silence is a place of peace and tranquil within Q2. It enables employees and guests to retreat to their inner self and will encourage intercultural, trans-denominational communication on the border between the private and professional worlds. The main hall containing an upside down cube that seems to float in the room and an open underside follows the 2-story, stretched anteroom. Natural light enters through the circumferential skylight. The surfaces of all the walls and the floor are homogeneously made from lightly marble, smooth plaster or screed in broken white. The interior walls of the floating cube are tessellated with finger-shaped, spliced titan shingles. The illuminated ceiling fitted with LED lighting makes the cube seem to have no end. The material of the titan shingles is resolved by the light, which emphasizes the floating character of the cube even further.
Photos: Ardex / Armin Wenzel