Main telephone exchange, Holzhausen/Leipzig
In life, granite boulders sink, while corks just keep bobbing along.
(Renoir)
V. Mocha, D. Ehlers
The main telephone exchange in Holzhausen consists of two distinct parts: the technical building on the one hand, and the company premises on the other.
In keeping with its function, the technical building was designed as a ca. 135 m long block, with rooms for transmission and switching technology, the power supply with its rectifier and battery rooms, and the emergency power system.
The necessary offices were assigned to the green space situated between the company and technical buildings. It was possible to design the façade looking out onto the green area giving it a new 'face' and to an appropriate scale. This was done by fronting it with columns and caesurae in order to house the stairwells. The technical building at Holzhausen is an example of how an edifice which is fairly simple in character can be structured in a suitably exciting way, whilst maintaining its uniformity through the use of various façade solutions reflecting functional uses (a light façade for office rooms, a trapezoidal sheet metal façade for the technical area and natural stone for the crown of the building).
The company premises were designed as a standard comb system. The building houses the functional areas such as the main telephone exchange, i.e.the telecommunications service, network supervision, cable laying and machine technology. The building echoes the façade and materials of the technical building, and together they create an ensemble which encloses the green space.
The two buildings were to be supplied tangentially, so as to cause as little disruption as possible to the open area.
After exactly 12 months, construction of the technical building had advanced to such a stage that a start could be made on installing the telecommunications equipment.
