Willy Brandt Straße 23 becomes: Kallmorgen Tower

The high riser situated on Willy Brandt Straße 23 was built in 1964 by the Hamburg-architect Werner Kallmorgen. The building became locally known as ‘the punchcard’ – not only because of its characteristic shape, but also for housing IBM.
IBM was at the time the worlds leading company in computer technology and famous for, among other things, their patented Hollerith punch cards, an advanced data storage medium based on punched cardboard cards.

Type: Concept, Corporate Identity, Editorial Design
Services: Editorial Design, Corporate Design, Web Design
Realized: June 2017

Industry: Real Estate
Client: QUEST Management GmbH

When IBM was building their German HQ in 1964, they needed a building that communicated the same kind of forward thinking as they applied. Today the story is quite different as IBM and its technology became obsolete a long time ago while the building itself has become a timeless architectural classic.
We wanted to tell the story of Kallmorgen Tower and its contrasted history by pairing Cutive Mono, a relic of obsolete technologies, with Neuzeit Grotesk, an elegant and timeless geometric sans serif.

Furthermore, we developed a logo-system based on the Hollerith punch card. The logo-pattern follows the logic behind how and where the punches were made on the cards. This resulted in a dynamic logo-system that could be modified to fit all the different areas of implementation.

Exposé and Brochure

Kallmorgen Tower’s facade has exactly the same proportions as the DIN A4 format. The windows form a strict grid of 16 rows and 22 columns. We translated these measurements into a grid on which we built the exposé and the brochure for the Kallmorgen Tower. The grid allowed us to explore a variety of layouts that together form a vibrant magazine.

The website

The website is a prospect in a magazine-look designed to give the visitor an understanding of Kallmorgen Towers history as well as a glimpse into the future. It offers interactive elements, animations, video, floor plans and hi-res renderings.
Have a closer look here

Please appreciate this project on Behance. Thank you.