An exemplary office building: A new mixed residential and office district is being built on the site of Düsseldorf’s historic Hohenzollernwerk in the east of the city. Set amid a collection of listed buildings, sop | architekten has designed a building that is clearly structured, almost rigid. Inspired by industrial architecture, its fair-faced concrete façade is designed along strictly functional lines while the interior has a loft-like character whose spatial generosity is underlined by floor-to-ceiling windows framed in galvanized steel – an aesthetic accentuated by the open-plan lifts and staircases.

In technical terms, the building with its structural component cooling and openable windows could almost be described as “low-tech”. Although it was completed back in 2003, its simple yet sustainable technical specification more than holds its own against more recent designs, an assessment borne out by numerous awards, including the 2003 BDA Prize and viewing requests.