Niemeyer Sphere Leipzig, a curious sphere that revolutionizes the previous compositional aesthetics

Niemeyer Sphere Leipzig"Oscar Niemeyer Sphere" - Canteen extension and restaurant for Techne Sphere in Leipzig.
On the premises of Techne-Sphere, the umbrella brand of the company’s Heiterblick (manufacturer of trams) and Kirow (world market leader for railway cranes), an annex has been realized within this monument-listed building complex. This annex is located to the north-western corner of the canteen building, a former steam boiler house. The resulting extension serves to expand the gastronomic offer of the Factory-Canteen.
The design originates from 2011 by Oscar Niemeyer (1907 -2012). His colleagues included his granddaughter Ana-Elisa Niemeyer and his "right-hand man", Jair Valera, of whom he had worked with since 1974. Initiator of the project is Ludwig Koehne, head of the Techne-Sphere.
Since August 2013, the design has been specified and continued to execution under the direction of Jair Valera together with his partner on-site, Harald Kern. Implementation started at the end of April 2017 and was completed at the end of June 2020.
The annex consists of a tower-like substructure, the shaft and on top, the sphere. It was built with in-situ concrete and is statically completely independent of the old building. The shaft consists of brown-red pigmented concrete, while the concrete of the sphere that rests on it, was whitened with titanium dioxide. The sphere is centered around the upper attic corner of the existing building at a height of approximately 12 meters. The concrete-shell of the sphere with a diameter of 12 meters has two spacious curved window openings which are formed of geodesic domes as steel-glass constructions. The upper dome with its south-west orientation was equipped with 147 switchable Dynamic Liquid Crystal Glasses in order to get control over the risk of glare and overheating from direct sunlight without additional shading elements.
The Sphere accommodates three floors:
- A lower "Facility" floor, designed primarily to accommodate technic
- A medium bar level (approximately 45 m²)
- An upper "Lounge Area" (approximately 91 m²)
The sphere can be accessed in several ways. From outside via an elevator in the shaft, from a bridge between the adjacent buildings and from a curved flight of stairs along the lower window opening to the lounge, which is at the level of the equator. Guests can access the roof terrace (approximately 130 m²), which extends over the existing building from the lounge passing through a spherically curved sliding door. A staircase along the backside of the canteen-building, designed as a ladder to heaven, allows access from the outside. The kitchen-studio is located in the existing building and is connected to the bar-area via a passage.
In the course of the construction of the Niemeyer Sphere the adjacent buildings have also been renovated and reorganized. Furthermore, a cooking-studio, gallery, café and other social facilities have been established.