FOUR Frankfurt in Frankfurt

Four high-rise buildings named FOUR Frankfurt are currently built on a site formerly used by Deutsche Bank, and will form a new urban quarter. Two of the towers are planned for living space, with areas for office and commercial use. Due to its special location in the middle of the city center skyline, adjacent to shopping and pedestrian zones of the city center, the project has the potential to create a unique form of cosmopolitan urbanity in Germany. This is the result of an urban development competition, which the original owner Groß & Partner had promised in November 2015.

The aim of the contest was to develop urban solutions for a versatile, lively neighbourhood. At the meeting of the Competition Comittee on March 9 2016, two awards were given, chaired by Mrs. Professor Gatermann. The architects 3XN from Copenhagen and Raumwerk from Frankfurt were pleased about the recognition. The second prize was won by the Max Dudler architects from Berlin. The winner of the design was UN Studio from The Netherlands who worked together with HPP. Bollinger-Grohmann along with Werner Sobek will provide structural engineering services.

The project, Four Frankfurt is given particular architectural importance by the planned 233-meter-high central tower of the project (764 feet). In the immediate vicinity of Commerzbank Tower, OmniTurm and MAIN TOWER, a skyscraper with 59 storeys will rise – a new highlight to the Frankfurt skyline. This skyscraper was already set out in the development plan of the City of Frankfurt. The two residential towers next to it are new, and together will provide space for more than 600 apartments. In addition, there will be a children’s playground, two hotels and a wide range of gastronomy and retail. In addition, 30 percent of subsidized living space is being created on the property, which the project developer reportedly initially resisted, but then lined up.

“We are very grateful that we have the opportunity to develop such an exciting and versatile project in our hometown,” says Jürgen Groß, owner and CEO of the project developer, “And we look forward to having our fellow citizens partake in the vision for this place soon. We are convinced that this project will be an enrichment for the inner city and the whole of Frankfurt. There will be no comparable situation in any other German city, and the project will also attract international attention” added Jürgen Groß.

The contributions from all architects to FOUR Frankfurt were publicly displayed in May 2016, in conjunction with a presentation of the neighbourhood and the future name for the area.

Since 2021, the construction work on the foundation took place. The public is seing the actual towers rising since 2021 onwards. Completion of the skyscrapers is planned in steps until 2024. The current project names of the four individual high-rise buildings of FOUR Frankfurt are T1, T2, T3, and T4, according to the official statement of the property development company. The project names Terra, Ignis, Aqua and Aer are no longer used.

Tower 1: 233 meters and 109,890 square meters GFA (office)
Tower 2: 173 meters and 56,920 square meters GFA (residential, serviced apartments)
Tower 3: 120 meters and 43,670 square meters GFA (residential)
Tower 4: 100 meters and 30,460 square meters GFA (office)

This results in a total area of 240,940 square meters of gross floor area (R+S) for the overall project. All area information comes from the project developer (as of November 2022). On the page Frankfurt in the future you can see how the construction of FOUR Frankfurt will affect the tallest buildings in the city.

If you want to experience the skyscraper project personally, you can do so nearby: In autumn 2020 the FOUR Suite opened next to the nearby Goetheplatz square. This presentation provides information about the construction work on the FOUR Frankfurt project and also presents apartments and amenities. The interior design of the apartments was created by Ippolito Fleitz.

Numerous retail stores will move into the 4Frankfurt project when it opens. In addition, numerous restaurants are to be located around a foot court. In addition, a supermarket of the EDEKA group is to serve the local supply of food.

April 2023: Leasing of office space in FOUR Frankfurt is progressing steadily: a further four floors in T4 have been let. The international healthcare company Sanofi and its Consumer Healthcare division are moving into around 3,375 square meters on the third to sixth floors of the office tower. The pre-letting rate in the T4 is now 87 percent.

Status October 2022: The shell of the T4 has been completed and handed over to GP Tec on schedule by Groß & Partner subsidiary GP Con. The next steps will be the assembly of the facade, the technical building equipment and the interior fittings. At the same time, the other three towers are also growing in height. At 233 meters, the tallest tower T1 has already reached the 20th floor. The core of T2 is currently on the 5th floor, while T3 is currently growing to the 21st floor.  The FOUR Frankfurt project is thus on schedule.

Status March 2022: T4 has almost reached its final height and facade work has begun. In the meantime, the building construction of T2 and T3 is also underway.

Status September 2021: The construction work on all four skyscrapers of the FOUR project is picking up speed. The construction work on T4 is the most advanced, it is currently taking place on the 5th floor (4. OG). Construction progress on T1 is taking place on the ground floor. Construction work is currently taking place on the 2nd floor (1. OG) of T3 and on the third floor (2. OG) of T2. From now on the construction work will run in parallel, i.e. all four high-rise buildings will be growing at the same time. In the near future, an additional floor per high-rise tower will be built almost every week.

Status August 2021: The civil engineering work below the ground level was recently completed. The basement floors are currently being expanded and the access ramps to the underground car park are being built.

Status July 2021: Allianz AG and the Bavarian Supply Chamber are buying Tower 1 of the FOUR Frankfurt project for 1.4 billion euros in a real estate transaction. This makes the skyscraper the most expensive single building ever sold in Germany.

Status June 2021: Current photos from the construction site are available via the Four Frankfurt webcam.

Status May 2021: The foundation of the tallest skyscraper T1 has been completed.

Status March 2021: The foundation stone was laid in the presence of Mike Josef, Peter Groß, and Ben van Berkel.

Status January 2021: The first two cranes have been installed.

Status November 2020: The German Sustainable Building Council has awarded 4Frankfurt a certification for the dismantling of the existing buildings.

Status October 2020: The following photos were taken from the 18th floor (17. OG) of the Garden Tower. The company Tribes operates a coworking center there, where companies can also rent small-scale office space

Status August 2020: The view over the construction site is irritating. One could almost think that there is only one large plaza on the FOUR construction site. But excavators eat their way down under the concrete slab every day.

Status July 2020: In 2024, after over 20 years of lease, the financial services company Deka will leave the Frankfurt Trianon high-rise and will move into the new Four-T1 high-rise. Deka has rented over 16,000 square meters (172,222 square feet) of office space on ten floors in Tower 1 of the FOUR project. The move will be part of a comprehensive future concept for the Deka Group for its locations in Frankfurt, which will include office space for Deka in Niederrad and in the Four Tower 1. As of today more than 55 % of Tower 1 is leased.

Status June 2020: The concreting work of the 1st base plate has started. In the future, this 60 centimeter (2 feet) high cover will rest on the primary piles that have already been installed in the ground. 1,600 tons of steel and 7,100 cubic meters (35,300 cubic feet) of concrete are processed in the lid. The cover dissipates all lateral forces that act on the diaphragm wall due to the neighboring buildings, thereby stiffening the excavation pit so that the basement levels can be successively produced under the cover. Construction workers and machines work their way down through eight openings in the lid to a total depth of approx. 28 meters (92 feet), from where they excavate the earth.

Status in May 2020: The law firm Allen & Overy will occupy around 10,000 square meters (107,640 square feet) of rental space on floors 22 to 28 of Tower 1. As a result, the tallest tower from the FOUR Frankfurt project has developed into a concentration point for law firms. In recent years, large law firms have increasingly appeared as anchor tenants for high-rise projects in Frankfurt.

Status March 2020: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, a law firm specializing in commercial law, will move into Tower 1 with its Frankfurt office in 2024. The Frankfurt office is the world’s second largest of the business law firm. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer signed a long-term contract with the project developer Gross & Partner for 14,500 square meters (156,000 square feet) of rental space, which is spread over 10 floors and which is expected to accommodate 600 employees.

Status November 2019: The soil stabilization wall is being constructed around the entire FOUR construction site as a construction pit shoring. This 25 to 40 meter deep steel-concrete wall protects the area from the enormous ground pressure of the neighbouring high-rise buildings in preparation for special foundation engineering. For some time now, around 380 foundation piles have also been drilled.

Before going down five storeys, the entire construction site is given a concrete cover to reinforce the shoring. The basement floors of the FOUR will then be realized via recesses in the concrete cover and will be finished 20 meters below the surface with the floor slab.

Status July 2019: More than 20 partner companies secure financing of FOUR Frankfurt.

Status August 2018: As the developer Groß und Partner reports, HR Group signed a 25 years lease for running a Hyatt House hotel in the 173 meter tall residential skyscraper of FOUR Frankfurt. It will be housed on floor level 11 to 19. Expected opening is the year 2023.