GAD / ILLUSTRATED STUDY

The Cradle: a timber facade with work to do

HPP’s Düsseldorf office building makes the relationship between structure, shade and future disassembly visible at the harbour edge.

Illustrated study · Office architecture

The diagonal facade grid of The Cradle seen from a street corner.Photo: Kürschner · CC0 · Image source · Resized and converted to WebP

The diamond pattern carries a load

The facade’s repeated V-shaped timber members are part of its load-bearing system. HPP also uses their depth for shading and loggias. The pattern therefore has several jobs, rather than serving as an applied motif. Changing views of the diagonal members make the envelope appear denser or more open. A useful design test is whether this depth gives the office a usable edge as well as a distinctive image.

Timber meets a concrete base

The building is a hybrid: timber upper levels stand above concrete basement and ground-floor construction. This distinction matters when studying its assembly. The timber frame at the perimeter does not describe every component. The case asks designers to consider where a material does useful work, and how transitions between systems can remain clear, rather than treating a material choice as a whole-building label.

Reuse begins with the joint

Supplier Pollmeier describes mechanically fitted connectors at the facade elements, using BauBuche blocks with steel plates rather than gluing those particular connections. The owner’s material passport records the installed components. Together, the connection and the inventory address two different problems: how something might be removed, and how a future team will identify it. They establish provisions for reuse, not a record of reuse already carried out.

An office at the water’s edge

HPP places ground-floor hospitality beside the harbour promenade, while the mobility hub offers shared vehicles. These uses give the office a relationship with visitors and neighbours. The exterior photographs show the completed facade alongside road works; they do not establish completion of every surrounding street. The useful lesson is the coordination of building edge, ground-floor activity and public route.

Triangular panels and diagonal members across another facade of The Cradle.Photo: Kürschner · CC0 · Image source · Resized and converted to WebP

The diamond pattern carries a load

Timber meets a concrete base

Reuse begins with the joint

An office at the water’s edge

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