The Karlsruhe District Office represents a region in Germany known for its evergreen forests and blooming landscapes. The city is an embodiment of the enlightenment “ideal city”, designed around the Karlsruhe Palace at its centre. In the 21st century, this has translated to a city divided: to the north of the palace are parks and forests, and to the south the densely packed city blocks. Located in the Ettlinger Tor area – itself the subject of an MVRDV masterplan – the new Landratsamt building replaces the existing office, a dysfunctional 1960s tower that relates poorly to the surrounding cityscape.

The design repairs the cityscape with a perimeter block containing retail functions, offices, and homes. At six-storeys high this block mimics the heights of the surrounding buildings to create well-defined streets at its edges and a leafy, publicly-accessible courtyard at its centre, while its roofs are intensively greened. This creates a cooling microclimate that stores water and provides habitat for animals such as birds and bees.

In addition to the tree bombardment, the proposal uses a number of sustainable design approaches. Structurally, the building is a hybrid: load-bearing prefabricated concrete tubes are used in the exterior façade, while wooden structure is used elsewhere whenever possible. This approach uses significantly less concrete than a standard concrete frame and creates flexible, column-free interior spaces, enabling future adaptations and changes that could extend the building’s lifespan. Significant portions of the building’s outer skin are constructed with shimmering green photovoltaic panels, allowing the building to generate its own energy.

The ambitions of the Waldratsamt design are progressive and multi-layered. From its political and artistic statement in reference to Joseph Beuys, to its analysis and response to Karlsruhe’s urban fabric, it aims to advance the Karlsruhe Landratsamt building as an exemplar of modern urban development. Realizing our Waldratsamt Proposal would have given the civil servants of Karlsruhe the opportunity to work in a wonderfully urban yet natural, forest-like environment, while Karlsruhe itself could have lead the way towards a new, greener approach to urbanism by building this icon of sustainability.