Today, MVRDV celebrated the topping out of the ZigZag office building in Mainz, Germany, in a ceremony hosted by the project’s developer CA Immo. The ceremony was attended by the Mayor of Mainz, Michael Ebling, and MVRDV’s founding partner in charge of the project Jacob van Rijs.

The ZigZag project – formerly named Hafenspitze – is located on the newly renamed Rotterdamer Platz, at the northernmost point of the Mainz Zollhafen. It is one of the pioneer projects in the plan to convert the former shipping container harbour into an urban mix of living, working and leisure facilities, a significant urban transformation which will be one of the one of the most important regenerations projects in the city’s recent history.

The façade of the six-storey building features a ‘rough skin’ of folded, prefabricated concrete panels, creating a 3D visual effect that references the local Rustika stones. On the ground floor, this zig-zagging façade tapers inward to provide more outdoor space and open pathways from the street to the water’s edge.

Designed alongside co-architects morePlatz, the 4,600 m2 office building incorporates modern, future-oriented office features such as smartphone-controlled lighting and temperature levels, while wireless solutions have been included throughout the building. Completion of the project is expected in mid-2020.