Frankfurt Architecture : Buildings
Contemporary buildings in Hesse. Mid Germany built environment designs updates.
post updated 24 October 2026
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Frankfurt Property developments by type
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Frankfurt Architecture Walking Tours by e-architect guides
Frankfurt has a wide range of contemporary architecture. Key buildings include Museum für Kunsthandwerk (Museum of Arts and Crafts Frankfurt) by Richard Meier (USA) and the Commerzbank Tower by Foster & Partners, Architects (UK). Key recent buildings include Tower 185 Building by Prof. Christoph Mäckler Architekten and the KfW Westarkade building by Sauerbruch Hutton. A major proposal is the Grand Hyatt Hotel by UNStudio (Netherlands).
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Major buildings in the city, in approximate order of importance:
European Central Bank Frankfurt Tower Building
Design: COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
photograph © European Central Bank/Robert Metsch
European Central Bank Frankfurt Tower Building
Alte Oper Concert Hall, Opernplatz
Architects: Buero Wagner
image by Buero Wagner & Federico Ciavarell © Buero Wagner
Alte Oper in Frankfurt
Tower 185 Building
Design: Prof. Christoph Mäckler Architekten
photo © Klaus Helbig
Tower 185
Museum für Moderne Kunst
Design: Hans Hollein
photo © Adrian Welch
Frankfurt Museum of Modern Art
Commerzbank Tower
Foster & Partners Architects
Commerzbank Tower Frankfurt : 259m high
Frankfurt Dom
Frankfurt Cathedral
Museum für Kunsthandwerk
Architect: Richard Meier
Museum of Arts and Crafts Frankfurt
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Frankfurt Buildings Designs
Frankfurt Architecture News – latest additions to this page, arranged chronologically:
17 August 2026
Frankfurt Airport Terminal 3 in Germany, Germany
Design: Mäckler Architekten
photo © HGEsch
Christoph Mäckler describes Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport as the “Growing Beetle”, a concept driven by flexibility and the ability to expand without disrupting airport operations. The terminal’s beetle-like form is organised around three key functional areas: the check-in hall, security zone and baggage collection hall.
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20 February 2024
House ZdM9, Offenbach, near Frankfurt am Main
Design: KHBT, Architects and Designers, London/Berlin
picture : Johannes Marburg
House ZdM9 Offenbach
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We choose key examples of Frankfurt Architecture. Buildings are mostly located in the city centre, within walking distance of each other.
We cover completed Frankfurt-am-Main buildings, new building designs, architectural exhibitions and architecture competitions across Frankfurt. The focus is on contemporary German buildings.
Frankfurt Building Photos of key buildings
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Frankfurt Architecture News Archive
2 Sep 2022
NION Frankfurt am Main office building, Europaviertel
Design: UNStudio
image : MOARE
NION Frankfurt am Main office building
22 Apr 2022
HW 1 Competition win
Design: caspar.
images : Signa Real Estate / caspar. / bloomimages
Hauptwache 1 Frankfurt am Main
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20 Jun 2019
Leaf and Bean Coffee Co Pavilion, Waldspielpark Heinrich-Kraft-Park
Design: MASK Architects
image courtesy of architects
Leaf and Bean Coffee Co Pavilion
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6 Feb 2018
FOUR Frankfurt Towers
Design: UNStudio & HPP Architects (UNS + HPP)
image courtesy of architects
FOUR Frankfurt Development
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18 Oct 2017
Historical Museum Exhibits, Saalhof 1
Architects: Kossmann.dejong
image Courtesy architecture office
Historical Museum Exhibits in Frankfurt
20 Jul 2017
NHOW Hotel, ONE office and hotel skyscraper complex, Frankfurter Messe
Interior Design: Rafael de La-Hoz Arquitectos
image : CA Immo/Rafael de La-Hoz
NHOW Hotel in Frankfurt
4 Mar 2017
‘City for All’ at Former Deutsche Bank Site in Frankfurt
Design: UNStudio
image courtesy of architects office
Building on Former Deutsche Bank Site
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10 Oct 2016
European Central Bank Frankfurt Tower
European Central Bank Frankfurt Tower + European Central Bank Development
The dynamic design of this Viennese architecture studio for the new premises of this important European Institution combines the low-level landmarked Grossmarkthalle with a new twisted double tower. The tower is 185 metres high.
29 Oct 2016
New Brioni Concept Store Worldwide
Design: Park Associati, architects
photograph : Andrea Martiradonna
Brioni Worldwide Frankfurt Store
The new Brioni Concept Store worldwide declines the classic masculine elegance of the brand through a language, taking inspiration from the great masters of Italian design such as Franco Albini, Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa Carlo Mollino.
5 Oct 2016
Opernplatz 2 competition
Design: Baumschlager Eberle Architectes
image © baumschlager eberle
Opernplatz 2 Frankfurt Building
The baumschlager eberle office in Berlin won the realization competition staged by Allianz Real Estate in cooperation with the city of Frankfurt to elicit a design for this site.
23 Mar 2016
Tessellating Canopy System at design festival
Design: Grimshaw Architects
photograph : Tensilation CBecker Lacour
Tessellating Canopy System
A successful collaboration between architects and tensile designers reached its final stage last week at Frankfurt’s Light + Building festival and trade fair, where MDT-tex launched the final Tensilation Type EV canopy system. Grimshaw has been working with MDT-tex to develop a product that offers both the flexibility that comes with modular canopies and the engineering advantages of a unified structure.
17 Mar 2016
BASF SE High-Rise Building, Ludwigshafen
Design: Eller + Eller Architekten
image courtesy of architects practice
BASF SE High-Rise Building Ludwigshafen
Eller + Eller Architekten’s high rise office design for BASF SE in Ludwigshafen, Germany was awarded the prestigious ‘Overall Winner’ prize at the conclusion of this year’s Architectural Review MIPIM Future Projects Awards ceremony. The 26.000 sqm (gross) project, which was also successful in the Offices category of the awards, is currently in the planning phase.
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11 Sep 2013
Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
Design: Henning Larsen Architects
image from architects office
Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
Frankfurt School of Finance & Management situated in one of Europe’s leading financial capitals has selected Henning Larsen Architects’ design proposal for a new school located in the heart of Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. The 42,000 m2 project is designed in collaboration with landscape architects ManMadeLand and engineering companies Innius RR, Werner Sobek, Transsolar and BPK.
14 May 2013
Haus W
Design: Ian Shaw Architekten
House in Frankfurt am Main
This well crafted cuboid generates spectacular light. The development, constructed out of prefabricated high insulation timber panels and energy-efficient glazing, is articulated as a classic modernist intervention: a box set into a traditional pitched roof atop a standard three-storey house.
4 Apr 2013
Villa W
Design: Ian Shaw Architekten
Villa W
This white, monolithic housewill reside in a suburb of Frankfurt. From the street it will appear impenetrable, so delineating a clear demarcation between the public and private realms.The building’sfront elevation is articulated as a series of windowless blocks, its recessed entranceway the only glazed element of its north facing façade.
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14 Dec 2012
Frankfurt Airport Terminal 1 Forecourt Building
Design: Grimshaw
Frankfurt Airport Forecourt Building
Grimshaw is delighted to announce that it has completed a detailed masterplanning study for Fraport which provides a new vision for the existing forecourt area at Frankfurt Airport’s Terminal 1. Grimshaw’s defining concept for the masterplan is to bring light, greenery and fresh air into the heart of the airport.
2 Oct 2012
Frankfurt Airport : Extension of gate A
Architect: gmp · Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner
Frankfurt Airport Building
This building is about 800 meters long, with an area of 185,000 sqm and designed for up to six million passengers a year. On 10 October 2012, Fraport and Lufthansa start operations in the extension of gate A at Rhein-Main airport, Frankfurt, which has been designed and implemented by the architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp).
18 Jul 2012
Tower 185 Building
Prof. Christoph Mäckler Architekten
Tower 185 Building
Germany’s fourth-highest office building – marks the gateway to the new Europa district in Frankfurt am Main and adds a new dimension to the city’s silhouette. The Tower 185 ensemble is made up of two main components: the perimeter block and the tower itself.
12 Apr 2012
Blue Night at Frankfurt Stock Exchange
ATELIER BRÜCKNER, Architects
Frankfurt Stock Exchange Building
On Sunday 14 April, the Large Trading Hall at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange will be transformed into an artistic installation reflecting the theme “Technology and Man”. Working with the light artist Ingo Bracke of Studio Kybra, ATELIER BRÜCKNER developed a subtle choreography of light and sound that makes it possible to experience the leading German share-trading location in a new way.
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8 Nov 2011
KfW-building : “Best Tall Building in the World 2011”
sauerbruch hutton
KfW Westarkade Building
The 85m high-rise is a prototype for a new generation of ecological building, running on less than 100 kWh/a/m² of primary energy it is one of the most energy-efficient office towers in the world. The streamlined form integrates itself into its surrounding context, while simultaneously standing out through the playful use of colour.
11 Aug 2011
German Film Museum
ATELIER BRÜCKNER
German Film Museum Frankfurt
The German Film Museum in Frankfurt am Main presents visitors a completely renovated building containing an inspiring, high-quality permanent exhibition. In an exhibition area of 800 sqm spread out over two floors, a compact setting is revealed that works with the means and methods of film and, at the same time, reflects them.
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15 Dec 2010
Zeilgalerie shopping centre
3deluxe in/exterior – red dot award
Zeilgalerie shopping centre Frankfurt
The redesign of this Frankfurt shopping centre, which opened in 1992, includes a completely new look for the façade and a full makeover of the public areas inside the complex.
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Key Contemporary Frankfurt Buildings
Modern Hesse Architectural Designs, alphabetical:
City Hall – Romer
Frankfurt City Hall
Deutsches Architektur Museum – DAM
Architect: Oswald Mathias Ungers
German Architecture Museum
Deutsches Filmmuseum Refurbishment
Bofinger, Helge & Partner
German Film Museum
Frankfurt Boat Club – Postmodern Frankfurt building
Frankurt Hauptbahnhof
Frankfurt Railway Station
Frankfurter Hof
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photo © Adrian Welch
Frankfurt Hotel
Grand Hyatt Hotel
UNStudio
Grand Hyatt Tower Frankfurt
Japan Center
Ganz + Rolfes Architects
Japan Center : 115m high
Kronenhaus
Kronenhaus Tower : 201m high
Liebieghaus Museum Alter Plastik
Architect: Kanold
Liebieghaus Museum
Main Tower
photo © Adrian Welch
Main Tower : 200m high
Museum für Angewandte Kunst
Design: Richard Meier
Frankfurt Museum of Arts & Crafts
Museum fur Kommunikation
Design: Behnisch & Partner
Frankfurt Post Museum
Museum Giersch
Museum Giersch
Schirn Housing Frankfurt
Schirn Housing
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt
Silver Tower
Silver Tower : 166m high
Skyper, Taunusanlage
Skyper Frankfurt : 154m high
Städelsches Kunstinstitut
Stadelsches Kunstinstitut
Stefanel New Concept – Frankfurt
Design: Sybarite Architects
Stefanel Frankfurt Shop
Zeilgalerie shopping centre
Design: 3deluxe in/exterior – red dot award
Zeilgalerie shopping centre Frankfurt Building
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Frankfurt Architecture – No Images
Contemporary Hesse Building Designs, alphabetical:
City-Haus
Platz der Republik
Richard Heil; Johannes Krahn Architects
142m high
1974
European Central Bank (ECB) – new headquarters, Ostend district, Frankfurt, Germany
2007-
Coop Himmelb(l)au
approx. 185m high pair of towers
Eurotower
1977
Kaiserstrasse
148m high
Frankfurt-am-Main Tram Station
under construction
Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue – Embt Arquitectes Associats SL
1995: Architecture Competition – First Prize
Frankfurt Terminal 3
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Christophe Mäckler
German Architecture Competition win 2005
Gesellschaftshaus Palmengarten, Frankfurt-am-Main
2002-09
David Chipperfield Architects
Juedisches Museum
1989
Architect: Ante Josip von Kostelac
Lufthansa Aviation Centre, Frankfurt Airport
Date built: 2007
Design: Ingenhoven Architekten
Lufthansa Hangar
Date built: –
Design: Gerkan, Marg & Partners
Max
Dates built: 2000-05
Design: Murphy/Jahn Architects
The Memorial Boerneplatz, Jewish Cemetery
Date built: 1998
Design: Wandel Hoefer Lorch & Hirsch
Messe Frankfurt: Halle 3a – Frankfurt Trade Fair Hall
Date built: 2001
Design: Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners
Messestadt Frankfurt
Date built: 1999
Design: Murphy/Jahn Architects
Messeturm
Dates built: 1985-90/91
Tower height: 257m high
Design: Murphy / Jahn Architects
Offices for the KFW Banking Group
Dates built: 2006-09
Design: Sauerbruch Hutton
Pollux
Design: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates – design architects
Nägele Hofmann Tiedemann und Partner GbR – project architects
Date built: 1997
Tower height: 130m high
Plaza Buro Tower
Date built: 1976
Tower height: 162m high
Trianon
Date built: 1993
Tower height: 186m high
Twin Tower Deutsche Bank
Date built: 1984
Tower height: 155m high
Frankfurt Property developments by type
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Location: Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany, western Europe.
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German City Architecture near Frankfurt
Cities further away:
Comments / photos for the Contemporary Frankfurt Buildings Designs page welcome.