Esslingen District Office
The new district office is a highly functional administrative building with a total of 675 workstations, 45 consultation and meeting rooms, and a wide range of service and support spaces. It accommodates a broad spectrum of public and internal work processes. The Esslingen District Office fits precisely into an exceptionally diverse setting. Merkelpark, the banks of the River Neckar, and the Hammer Canal shape the site and form the landscape backdrop into which the new building is integrated. With its stepped form, the building follows the Neckar riverbank and responds to the site’s topography. On the south-west side, the ground floor opens generously towards the water, making key functions of the district office visible from the river and the adjacent federal road.
ProjectEsslingen District Office
LocationPulverwiesen 11, 73728 Esslingen
ClientLandkreis Esslingen
StatusCompleted in 2025
BGF34.262 m² | BRI104.461 m³ |
Service phases1-5 |
Photography© David Matthiessen
DGNB Gold
The existing district office tower next to the new building has been harmoniously integrated into the new ensemble. The stepped upper floors of the new building and the carefully designed gap between the new and existing structures create a balanced architectural composition. The old building is not isolated; instead, it naturally becomes part of the overall new design.
Approaching the site by car, visitors encounter clear visual and pedestrian connections. A generously designed forecourt leads intuitively to the main entrance, which is oriented openly towards the park. Traffic circulation has also been arranged efficiently: motorised traffic is directed to the underground car park at an early stage, while the integrated daycare centre has its own access road.
Architecture
Based on the urban planning requirements, the new building was designed in the form of a horizontal figure eight. This distinctive structure creates a characteristic silhouette while also providing an efficient and intuitive circulation system. The central circulation area is located at the intersection of the two building loops. It forms a spatial hub where all routes converge and where the internal organisation of the building can be clearly understood. The various work areas benefit from this building typology. Most of the offices face outwards, offering direct views of the adjacent park or the River Neckar. This strong connection to the surrounding landscape creates bright, welcoming spaces with a high level of comfort. In addition, generously sized courtyards open towards the centre of the two building loops. They provide views of the planted roof areas, which further enhance the interior spaces. The architectural structure of the building is defined by a consistently implemented three-zone principle. The central, two-storey foyer forms the publicly accessible zone and functions as a continuous spatial link. The semi-public zone on the office floors is used for interaction between internal and external users and includes consultation and meeting areas. The third zone is accessible exclusively to employees and contains the internal office areas.
Basement Levels
The second basement level contains an underground car park with 176 spaces for employees, as well as the building’s technical infrastructure. The first basement level provides an additional 41 parking spaces, building services areas, and storage space. An archive area with shelving for 13,000 linear metres of files provides a highly functional records facility that meets the requirements of a large administration.
Ground Floor
The ground floor forms the communicative centre of the building. A publicly accessible, two-storey foyer with an information desk welcomes visitors. A prominent light and wall installation by internationally renowned artist Tobias Rehberger creates a distinctive accent. In the evening, its brightly coloured typography can also be seen from the Neckar side and from the federal road. The connecting bridge on the first floor of the foyer runs along the Neckar-facing façade and can be reached via an open staircase. This makes the relationship with the River Neckar perceptible within the public areas of the building.
The public-oriented functions are grouped around the foyer. These include the vehicle registration office, the mailroom, the in-house printing facility, and the canteen with its kitchen area. A planted courtyard with seating extends the canteen’s dining and lounge area. Generously dimensioned corridors lead to the political section, which contains a large and a small council chamber. Both rooms are arranged around a shared foyer—the “Neckar Lounge”—with its own outdoor loggia. This area can be used during meeting breaks and for events. The large council chamber can also be opened up flexibly with movable walls and adapted for different uses. The small council chamber, with views of the River Neckar, features circular seating and large LED screens for conferences. A daycare centre for 30 children is also located on the ground floor. It has its own entrance from the outdoor area and is protected from Federal Road B 10 by a noise barrier.
First Floor
On the first floor, an open foyer with a waiting area leads into the semi-public zone. It can be reached via the stairwell and lifts. This area contains waiting zones, consultation rooms, and visitor toilets. The adjoining work areas include open-plan, single, and double offices, supplemented by kitchenettes, staff toilets, and informal communication areas. The first floor also contains a central meeting area with meeting rooms of various sizes for up to 40 people. Whenever necessary, this area can quickly be converted into a civil protection and emergency response centre. Training rooms for the administration’s in-house training school expand the facilities with a specialised educational area.
Standard Floors
The second to fourth floors are standard office floors and accommodate the various departments of the district office. The bar-shaped layout, with continuous office and central circulation zones, allows for a highly flexible arrangement of different office and meeting rooms. The continuous figure-eight layout allows the floor areas to be used flexibly and supports a variety of workplace configurations. The central zones contain open modules with seating, coffee points, lockers, and technical facilities such as printer stations. On the fourth floor, the offices and meeting rooms of the district administrator, together with the associated secretariat, are clearly and representatively integrated into the overall system.
Facade
The new building establishes its architectural identity primarily through a high-quality, anodised unitised façade based on a consistent basic grid of 1.30 and 2.60 metres. Vertical projecting fins define the appearance of the building and give it a sense of depth. This rhythmic arrangement creates a calm yet distinctive façade. Certain areas create deliberate accents by interrupting the façade system. Above the main entrance and on the opposite, Neckar-facing side, the façade dispenses with the vertical fins and opens up as a flat glass façade. This clearly highlights the entrance, the foyer, and the architectural gap between the building volumes, marking the building’s public interfaces. The political section of the building is also given special emphasis through recesses in the building volume—particularly by the Neckar loggia, which extends this area spatially towards the outside. The façade is finished in warm shades of grey. The fins and sheet-metal surfaces use carefully coordinated tones from the same colour spectrum. On the south and south-eastern sides of the building, photovoltaic elements are integrated into the horizontal bands of the unitised façade. Areas with lower daylight requirements, such as secondary stairwells, are partly fitted with closed elements that accommodate PV modules or glass panels. The proportion of glass in the overall façade is deliberately kept below 50 percent.
Energy Supply
The new building follows an advanced energy concept that actively contributes to reducing CO₂ emissions. Photovoltaic systems with a total capacity of approximately 450 kWp are installed, comprising 75 kWp on the façade and 375 kWp on the roof. This is supplemented by a glass-to-glass photovoltaic system forming the roof over the daycare centre’s outdoor area, with an additional capacity of 16.5 kWp. A 60 kWh battery storage system increases the proportion of self-consumed electricity, which reaches 100 percent. This results in annual savings of approximately 174,358 kilograms of CO₂. Around 20 percent of the building’s electricity demand is covered by the photovoltaic systems. Another key element is a heat pump supplied with water from the River Neckar. Using ceiling panels, it both heats and cools the building. Extensive green roofs improve the building’s microclimate. Through this construction and energy concept, the building meets the demanding KfW Efficiency House 40 standard. It has also received DGNB Gold certification and the DGNB Sustainable Construction Site certificate.
