A fitting new building for Bonn

26.06.2015 – Today, GIZ in Bonn is inaugurating its new office complex at Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 36. With its focus on sustainability, it is fully aligned with the federal enterprise’s mandate.

If you drive from the centre of Bonn towards Bad Godesberg past the ‘Museum Mile’, you cannot help but notice a striking new feature in Bonn’s cityscape: the ‘Meander Building’ that belongs to the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, whose main commissioning party is Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

In terms of its resource-saving, sustainable construction, the Meander Building meets the highest standards and was completed on schedule within a two-year period and on budget within a EUR 70 million framework. Tanja Gönner, Chair of the GIZ Management Board, noted that this is the largest investment that GIZ has ever made. ‘We have built our office complex in Bonn, in the city that, to all intents and purposes, is the German capital of sustainability and international cooperation,’ said Gönner, addressing more than 200 guests at the inauguration ceremony, including Angelica Schwall-Düren, Minister of Federal Affairs, Europe and the Media in the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia, and Bonn’s Mayor Jürgen Nimptsch.

Germany’s Federal Development Minister Gerd Müller said, ‘The Meander Building represents GIZ’s clear commitment to the international city of Bonn. Moreover, the building demonstrates what GIZ is capable of and, as far as the use of resources and energy supply is concerned, is evidence of sustainable construction in action.’

The building has space for around 500 employees. In all, the new building has a usable area of around 13,500 square metres. The Meander Building’s state-of-the-art environmental technology means that, compared with traditional office buildings, it uses considerably fewer resources. GIZ hopes to receive a silver certificate from the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). DGNB certification is awarded to buildings that not only conserve resources, but are also functional and comfortable.

The office got its name from its unusual ground plan, which is vaguely reminiscent of a meandering river. With a natural stone façade, it adds a touch of warmth to Bonn’s former government quarter. The window elements that reach all the way from the ground to the first floor give the Meander Building a modern and open look.