The New GIZ Campus in Eschborn

The architectural design is based on an open timber-concrete hybrid concept. A five-story atrium featuring a wood-and-steel staircase serves as the main circulation hub for the office levels, while the facade is finished entirely in timber. The floor plans are designed for maximum flexibility: each standard story is divided into eight "home bases", accommodating approximately 30 people each. All individual workspaces are positioned along the quiet exterior facades, offering pleasant views of the landscaped courtyards through deep, private balconies.

The indoor climate control system is fully and invisibly integrated into the ceiling structure. Spanning nearly 22,000 m² of ceiling area across six floors, the development utilizes the CEILTEC® ceiling system by Innogration. At the heart of this building services concept is near-surface thermal component activation (TABS). Pipe registers embedded directly within the solid concrete slabs leverage the material's natural thermal storage capacity to provide consistent heating and cooling throughout the building. Decentralised manifolds enable zone-by-zone, demand-driven temperature control tailored to the flexible office layouts. This setup is complemented by integrated mechanical ventilation. Fresh supply air is introduced draft-free through decentralised acoustic absorbers mounted flush with the ceiling, while exhaust air is extracted in a controlled manner. Despite providing outstanding sound reduction in the modern office environments, these acoustic absorber strips do not restrict the thermal performance of the activated ceiling component.

A standout detail of the design demonstrates the practical consistency of the overall concept: the wrap-around, landscaped balconies do not only serve as outdoor break spaces, but are structurally and geometrically engineered to double as access walkways for facade maintenance. This functional dual-use significantly reduces maintenance costs while ensuring that the connection between the green campus and the workspaces is permanently preserved. This clever architectural feature perfectly rounds off the building's coherent design.

Text: ZAB | Sources: PHOENIX Real Estate Development GmbH, Caramel - architekten zt gmbh, Innogration GmbH