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The Stack / offices mixed-use

[Summary]

Timber, daylight, workplace health and ESG value converge in a low-carbon office environment designed as environmental infrastructure.

[Team]

Wilmotte & Associés · Laura Ulloa - Project Leader / German projects development · Client / developer and consultants to be confirmed in project archive.

[Temporal Arc]

Immediate (neuroception at entry) · Ultradian (light calibrated to attention cycle) · Circadian (tunable LED + CO2 management across the working day)

[Direction of Effect]

ACTIVATE (cognitive performance) · REGULATE (autonomic balance) · RESTORE (post-commute cortisol)

[Neural Tags]

L1 = Daylight optimisation · L4 = Adaptive artificial light · B3 = Biophilic volume · A3 = Acoustic comfort zone · T1 = Indoor air quality · T2 = Hygroscopic regulation

[Biological System]

Autonomic regulation · Circadian entrainment · Molecular signalling (cortisol, CO2, VOC) · HPA axis regulation

[Description]

The Stack is a 17,100 m2 hybrid timber office building at the corner of Schwanthalerstraße and Goethestraße in Munich's central business district. Designed by Wilmotte & Associés Architectes with RKW Architektur+ as local architect, it is the first office building in Germany to achieve LCBI (Low Carbon Building International) certification at 'Excellent' level. The structural system uses 1,800 m3 of Austrian spruce - reaching 325.5 kg CO2e/m2 embodied carbon, thirty per cent below the DGNB benchmark for solid construction. Green terraces integrate at every floor level; the publicly accessible ground floor opens directly to the city, two minutes from Munich Hauptbahnhof. Facade: A..T..F. Landscape: Studio Vulkan. Developer: AXA IM Alts + Accumulata. Pre-let to Novartis (4,800 m2) and Quinn Emanuel (2,000 m2) before completion. Completed 2026. ICONIC AWARDS 2025. Targets: DGNB Platinum · LEED Platinum. BfNA reading: this project is understood as a case study in attention, stress, air, light, acoustic comfort, social energy and productivity. It extends beyond architectural production into environmental intelligence / how design decisions can support human adaptation, social responsibility, ecological performance and future evidence-based practice.

[Key Figures]

Typology: offices mixed-use · 2021-2026 · 17,100 m2 · LCBI 'Excellent' (1st in Germany) · ICONIC AWARDS Winner · 1,800 m3 Austrian spruce · 325.5 kg CO2e/m2 embodied carbon (−30% vs. DGNB solid) · Developer: AXA IM Alts + Accumulata · Pre-let: Novartis 4,800 m2 + Quinn Emanuel 2,000 m2 · Delivery: early 2026

[Neural Analysis]

COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE: The workplace can be read through cognitive load, arousal and circadian biology: daylight, acoustic comfort and timber-biophilic cues may reduce cortisol load while supporting dopaminergic attention and task persistence.

LIGHT [L1][L4]: Biophilic design features and tunable LED lighting throughout. Optimal office illuminance 300-500 lux at 3,500-4,000 K is supported by Jung et al. (2010) and Zahariev (2025): bright morning light raises peak cortisol 20-40%, improving alertness. UGR <16 reduces visual discomfort 40%. ACOUSTICS [A3]: Timber construction provides inherent acoustic absorption; RT (reverberation time) optimised to 40-55 dB zone identified by BMC Public Health (2025) as optimal for cognitive work. BIOPHILIC [B2][B3]: Green terraces integrated into each floor and rooftop vegetation. Yin et al. (2020, n=100): physiological stress markers (HR, blood pressure, skin conductance) reduced immediately within first 4 minutes of biophilic exposure. AIR [T1]: Smart building technology regulates CO2 and VOCs; Allen et al. (2016, Environ. Health Perspect.) show that at 1,000 ppm CO2 cognition falls 15%, at 2,500 ppm by 50%. THERMAL COMFORT [T2]: Timber hybrid structure provides superior thermal mass and hygroscopic regulation vs concrete; Orosa & Oliveira (2011, Energy & Buildings) demonstrated that vapour-permeable interior materials reduce humidity fluctuations, lowering discomfort and cortisol 12-18%. BfNA neural-sciences lens: the relevant question is not only how the project looks, but how it conditions attention, stress, air, light, acoustic comfort, social energy and productivity over time, across different bodies, neurotypes and social realities.

[Social Impact]

SOCIAL: A lower-load workplace model where carbon reduction and cognitive performance are not separate claims but co-measurable conditions for occupants and tenants.

[ROI Sustainability]

ROI: Certification stack, pre-letting and low-carbon timber construction strengthen asset differentiation; BfNA would measure whether environmental value also appears as reduced stress, better focus and retention.

ROI: Novartis + Quinn Emanuel pre-let (6,800 m2/17,100 m2 = 40% pre-let before completion). SUSTAINABILITY: LCBI 'Excellent' + LEED + DGNB Platinum targets; 1,800 m3 Austrian spruce sequesters ~1,620 t CO2; 30% reduction in embodied carbon vs standard build; district heating/cooling from Munich municipal utilities; operational carbon: 8.27 kg CO2e/m2/yr. CARBON ECONOMICS: Each m3 of Austrian spruce sequesters ~0.9 t CO2 (EPD Austria 2022); 1,800 m3 = 1,620 t CO2 locked for building lifetime. Carbon payback vs steel-concrete: ~12 years vs ~60 years operational benefit - LCBI Excellent confirms methodology. ESG / investment lens: the value of this project is not limited to carbon or certification. It includes occupant health, retention, rental value, carbon and ESG reporting, producing evidence that can inform investors, public actors, operators and future environmental standards.

[Applied R&D Lens]

Deploy HEI-style sensing across CO2, acoustics, light temperature and occupancy rhythm, then correlate with self-reported focus, fatigue and stress markers to produce a neural workplace score.

The Stack is already equipped to measure itself. BfNA's Applied R&D would deploy continuous environmental monitoring across occupied floors - correlating real-time CO2, ambient lux, acoustic levels, and timber hygroscopy with cognitive performance and HPA axis markers across the full occupant population. The LCBI Excellent certification provides the environmental baseline; what is missing is the human layer. 1,800 m3 of Austrian spruce regulating humidity with the precision of skin - this is the variable. Measured against cortisol curves across the working day, The Stack becomes the most rigorous timber-neural science dataset in German commercial real estate.Future data layer: deployed through BfNA, the project could become a longitudinal dataset linking environmental conditions, behavioural patterns, social outcomes and ecological performance / transforming built space into knowledge for future design.

Citations:

Project sources: Wilmotte & Associés, The Stack, https://www.wilmotte.com/en/projects/the-stack/ ; The Stack imprint / visualisation context, https://www.the-stack-munich.com/en/imprint/ ; Munich Business location data, https://www.munich-business.eu/standort-muenchen/gewerbeflaechen-immobilien/gewerbeflaechen-angebote/buero-gewerbestandorte-the_stack.html. Neural sources: Djebbara et al. (2022), Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104715; Ghamari et al. (2021), Neuroarchitecture Assessment; Friston (2010), Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

Project Credits: Wilmotte & Associés. Team: Wilmotte & Associés; extended consultant team to be confirmed from project archive. Laura Role: Project Leader / German projects development. Image Credits: © rendart Architekturvisualisierungen and/or respective rights holders. Source: Official Wilmotte project page; The Stack imprint; Munich Business location data. Project Credits & Copyright Notice: Every effort has been made to identify and acknowledge architects, consultants, collaborators, photographers, visualisation studios and other contributors associated with each project. Project descriptions have been rewritten and curated by Bureau for Neural Architecture (BfNA). Architectural works, photographs, renderings, drawings, trademarks and visual material remain the property of their respective authors, studios, photographers, visualisation teams and rights holders. Contributors are credited wherever information is available. Rights remain with their respective authors and rights holders.