The '''OpernTurm''' is a skyscraper in [[Frankfurt]], [[Germany]]. The property is situated opposite [[Alte Oper]] on the corner of Bockenheimer Landstrasse and Bockenheimer Anlage. The architect of the tower is Professor Christoph Mäckler. The project developer is Tishman Speyer, a US firm that previously built the [[Sony Center]] in [[Berlin]] and the [[MesseTurm]] in Frankfurt. The main tenant of the Opera Tower is UBS AG Germany, which has leased (31,000 sqm) ofis officethe spaceGerman forhead itsoffice newof GermanUBS headquartersAG.
== Design ==
The OpernTurm consists of a 170-m high-rise building (42 levelsfloors) and an approximately 26-m low-rise perimeterpodium developmentbuilding (7 levelsfloors) facing towards the Alte Oper. Access is through an 18 meter high lobby. The yellow-beige stone cladding of the facades fits in harmoniously with the existing buildings surrounding Opera Square. Designed to consume 23 percent less energy than stipulated by Germany's 2007 EnEV Energy Regulation, the OpernTurm was one of the first office buildings in Europe to be certified to the LEED Gold standard (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
The site was previously occupied by the Zürich Tower (''Zürich-Haus''), one of Frankfurt's first high-rise buildings, the 68 m tall Zürich Tower (''Zürich-Haus'') built in 1962. In 1998, Zürich Versicherung, the owner of the 68-m tall building, commissioned Christoph Mäckler's firm to design a new building that would be 22 m taller in order to maximize land use. When the initially proposed building was felt to be rather bulky, Zürich Versicherung suggested to the local government to build the new tower up to a height of 160 m and to compensate for the added height by making available company-owned land to extend the adjacent Rothschildpark down to Bockenheimer Landstrasse. The local government eventually agreed but Zürich Versicherung did not go ahead with the development and sold the now empty site -- the old tower had been demolished in 2002 -- to project developer Tishman Speyer in July 2004.
Civil engineering works started in late 2006 with the removal of the former underground garage of the Zürich Tower. The groundbreaking for the development of OpernTurm took place on 22 January 2007.
The completion of OpernTurm in late 2009 added another landmark to the city's famousmuch photographed skyline., with Itsits elegant silhouette and the natural stone façade setsetting it apart from the glass towers whichdominating have come to dominate downtownthe Frankfurtcityscape. The adjoining Rothschildpark has been extended by 5,500 square metres and redesigned in the style of an English garden.
