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Finalist
CTBUH Innovation Award

Precast Concrete Façade

Used in Tour Total, Berlin

“The creative integration of the

precast load-bearing façade
is a good example of how
prefabricated solutions can
support an elegant and effective
building design.”
Robert Okpala, Juror, Buro Happold

The “raster” façade used on the Tour Total building

Innovation Design Team:
Architect: Barkow Leibinger
Structural Engineer: GuD Planungsgesellschaft für Ingenieurbau mbH
Fabricator and Façade Construction (concrete): Dreßler Bau GmbH
Façade Construction (metal): FKN Fassadentechnik GmbH & Co. KG
Opposite: Close-up view of the precast concrete façade
Above: Façade panels awaiting on-site delivery
in Berlin is a load-bearing precast concrete frame that
eliminates interior columns, allowing floor-to-ceiling
glass by way of triple-glazing with exterior retractable
protective louvers, and generates more usable floor
area than other systems. The precast façade generates a
ratio of 60 percent glazed to 40 percent closed surfaces,
improving insulation values. Precast concrete is also an
inherently fireproof building material, eliminating the
need for additional fire protection. This also means that
the building requires only a single exit stair with baffle
and sprinklers, generating additional usable floor area.
The basic module is a two-story, T-shaped precast
element. These elements stagger and overlap from floor
to floor. In this application at Tour Total, Berlin (see
Best Tall Building Europe section where it was awarded
Finalist status, page 126), each precast element is then
“creased” with a K-shaped, origami-like fold, using the
full depth (up to 50 centimeters) for each piece. When
combined, the overall effect produces a visual diagonal

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continuity, which wraps around the corners of the
building. This is an effect that emphasizes the vertical,
exaggerating the height of a high-rise building. This
deep façade protects the interior from direct sunlight,
and also provides a pocket depth to integrate retractable
louvers for additional sun control.
This type of construction will remain relevant for
future construction for a number of reasons. Digital
fabrication technologies will continue to evolve, and
Jury Statement
The next evolution of precast concrete façade systems provides
efficiencies in cost, construction, and environmental performance.
Reminiscent of the precursor to skyscraper wall technologies – the
load-bearing masonry wall with punched openings – the raster
façade retains its environmental benefits, while taking a leap into
the future in terms of ease of fabrication/installation. The raster
façade system ameliorates the wasteful cladding practices of the
20th century while launching a time-tested approach into the 21st.
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will have a direct impact on how formwork is made for
concrete. Historically, precast has worked best with a
high degree of repetition or modulation of individual
elements. From a design point of view, in the future this
need not be the case. Digitally fabricated formwork, or
formwork that is adaptable from pour to pour, soon
will be a reality and will allow a great deal of variation in
the number of individual building elements. Of course,
this influences aesthetic/formal articulation, but also,
to a larger degree, allows the structure to respond more
precisely (and economically) to structural and loading
variations, so that a building can reflect those conditions
and change from floor to floor. In Tour Total there are
some 1,395 precast façade elements, using approximately
41 individual cast types. These innovations are in the
context of a developer building with constraints in both
budget and allowable construction time. At 840 Euros
per square meter, this is a very economical façade and
construction technique for Berlin and beyond.
Prefabricated concrete is well positioned to replace steel
for functional, sustainable, aesthetic, and economic
reasons. It is also a faster way to build, as precast
concrete elements require no additional handling for
fireproofing or finishes. When the elements arrive on-
site, they need only be assembled.
With a tolerance of 2-3 millimeters, precast concrete
is a remarkably precise material that needs no further
finishing and is incredibly consistent in terms of color
and finish. The precision is significant, but aesthetically
the plasticity of concrete will continue to improve,
 floor finish: Opposite: Casts for prefabrication of façade units
fitted carpeting,
5mm
hollow floor Left: Detail façade section
insulation

aluminium sill Below: Diagram of prefabricated structural panels, insulation/glazing, then prefabricated
=
decorative panels (top), and construction view showing installation of decorative panels
reinforced concrete slab
h=30cm external retractable sunshade onto the structure (bottom)
(poured in place)

glare shield

precast column

3 x insulated glass

“The fully precast load-bearing

façade is rich in texture and
detail and is used to create an
energy-efficient rippling skin, that
window profile
is dramatic and exciting when
viewed at a distance or close-up.”
David Scott, Juror, Laing O’Rourke

offering façades with sculptural depth that control

light, radiation, and weather protection. This offers
an intelligent alternative to the energy-wasting and
impractical current use of the all-glass curtain wall.

Raster façades will become more practical with

improvements to the thermal connections back to the
floor slabs. Tour Total is a sandwich construction that
consists of an outside layer of precast concrete, which is
both ornamental and stiffens the grid against wind load, load

a layer of thermal insulation and glazing, and an inner

structural grid of precast poured as “combs.” All three
layers are fastened together on-site. In the future, the
inner layer will be eliminated, as “iso-corb” connections
are improved, allowing for an insulated structural
connection between the “cold” precast and the “warm”
interior structural floor slabs. These connections, as
they improve, can allow for thermal expansion in tall
buildings. The advantage of this emerging technology
will be to increase usable floor area and speed up the
construction process and time.

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