Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG (LEAG)

The Cottbus company building of mining and power plant operator LEAG was the administrative headquarters of Swedish energy company Vattenfall until 2016, when it sold its German lignite division and the building in Cottbus to Czech energy supplier EPH.

It was designed by a student project group from the Lausitz University of Applied Sciences' architecture programme, whose design was chosen from among 50 entries submitted by architectural firms.

Opened in 2004, the 50-metre-high building cost just under 30 million euros and offers space for 600 employees on 40,000 square metres of gross floor space.

The design was inspired by a person lying on their back with their head raised, supporting themselves on their forearms. Like a human body, the complex, which rises from four to fourteen floors, is designed to function as a perfect organism.

The transparency of the glass façade increases with height. The elongated part of the building is made up of glass strips, with window glass and profiled glass alternating.

The U-shaped glass panels were fitted with translucent thermal insulation in the spaces between them to achieve improved heat and sun protection.