The new German HQ of fashion chain store C&A on the former Kaufring site at Düsseldorf Airport was completed in 2006 for approx. €40 million gross. Housed under one roof at the location are C&A's German head office, its European logistics and IT subsidiary and the Düsseldorf section of its European Central Purchasing Unit.

Berlin-based architects nps tchoban voss forged a master plan for Sergei Tchoban's scheme that involved an ensemble of four separate entities extending along a central green axis and simultaneously creating a structural rhythm. The entities become smaller to the south-east, affording a view onto a landscaped area that in turn is shielded from the adjacent railway line by a gently curved parking building. A transparent structure links the two architectural complexes where they intersect with the central axis, in the process forming a spacious multi-storey lobby.

Key features of the architecture for the six-storey C&A HQ are straight lines and regularly arranged windows, which exude a timeless elegance. The parapets and pillars on the four principal structures, which are clad in finely-framed, screen-printed glass, are particularly striking. nps tchoban voss draw on a classical motif from the architectural past by coffering their facade, to quite extraordinary effect. Depending on where you stand the mirror facade gives rise to an interplay of plasticity and reflection that lends the building a vibrant lightness.