How about a vessel that you can fill yourself? That is the idea behind Main Palais in Frankfurt. The architecture allows room for your own ideas.
Main Palais offers breadth and grandeur. Video installations show sky, clouds, moon and stars. It feels like flying while staying grounded. This creates a wow effect. It stays in your head.
The Main Palais inspires. You can dance very well here. It suits modern and classical dance. You can also organize many other things. A dinner here? Think casual fine dining. A congress? Rocket science could fit. A staff event? Change topics. Or consider a future hub. Anything combining elegance with down-to-earthiness works at Main Palais.
The Palais Quartier includes the Main Palais. It is a mixed-use building complex. It is located in Frankfurt’s Innenstadt district. The complex was built between 2004 and 2011. It includes two high-rise buildings. The tallest is the Nextower at 136 meters. There is also a shopping center and a historic palace.
Deutsche Telekom sold the property in February 2002 for 230 million euros. KSP Engel und Zimmermann Architekten won the urban development competition. Initial plans aimed to start construction in July 2004. Completion was expected by the end of 2006.
The shopping center opened on February 26, 2009 after delays. The Palais Thurn und Taxis and the two high-rise buildings were completed in 2011. The project’s planned investment was around 800 million euros. The total costs are estimated around 960 million euros now.
The former main post office and a telecommunications tower were demolished for the project. The Rundschau building was also demolished. Palais Quartier sits on a 1.7-acre area. It lies between the Zeil shopping street and the Eschenheim Tower.
Deutsche Post used the site for decades as Frankfurt’s main post office. An investor bought it in 2002. Plans included a large shopping mall. The demolition of the old post buildings began in 2004. Legal disputes delayed construction for months.
The complex consists of four buildings. MyZeil is a shopping mall with 77000 square meters of leaseable area. Palais Thurn und Taxis is a reconstruction of a palace from 1793. The Nextower is a 136-meter-high office building. The JW Marriott Frankfurt is a 99-meter-high hotel building.
The Thurn and Taxis Palace was rebuilt based on a historical model. It is not an exact copy. It is a smaller version of the original late Baroque city palace. Air raids destroyed the original in 1944. The gatehouses were demolished but their sandstone ornaments were reused.
The new palace stands free on all sides. The two side wings now face north and south. The garden facade was redesigned. The building has a reinforced concrete structure with a steel roof. From the outside, it looks like a historical building.
The building includes a multifunctional hall for 1000 people. Retail and upscale restaurants are on the ground floor. Offices are on the upper floors.
Behind the palace stands the 136-meter-high Nextower. It has deconstructivist-style facades of aluminum and glass. The office tower has 48000 square meters on 32 floors. The lobby and conference rooms are on the lower floors. The fourth floor connects to the MyZeil shopping center. Two roof terraces sit at 90 meters high.
The MyZeil shopping center connects Thurn-und-Taxis-Platz to the Zeil. Over 100 shops are spread over six floors. Architectural features include the glass roof and a 46-meter-long escalator.
Main Palais combines history with modern design. It offers diverse spaces for various events. Its architecture inspires creativity and elegance.