In the Upper Bavarian town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the local tax office had long outgrown its centrally located headquarters and was dispersed between six locations. After a decade-long search for an appropriate site, the Bavarian state bought a former military barracks to the north ofthe market town in order to accommodate all 140 tax office employees in a new office building. In 2007 an invited architectural competition was held and, out of 29 entries, was won by Reinhard Bauer Architekten from Munich. The new tax office is, until now, one of the largest public administration buildings in Germany to be constructed in timber. The double storey office building was constructed with prefabricated timber frame elements. Its main supports are steel posts directly behind the facade, as well as laminated timber supports along the office corridors. The ground floor ceiling and roof consist of hollow box beams made from sheeted glulam ribs. These stiffen the building in the horizontal axis; the vertical stiffening is achieved solely by the three concrete stairwells.