Built on heavily polluted land in an area of Dessau which still looks desperately abandoned, this project has a surreal polish. The central atrium is a calm and quiet place enlivened by the use of coloured glass panels. There is a fuzzy transparency to these panels and they provide a glamorous counterpoint to the natural materials used in the atrium.
The Federal Environment Agency was visited by the RIBA Awards Group and considered for The Stirling Shortlist.