Wow! Wow! And wow again! Our DSTRCT has won the first prize in the new building category at the ImAward (awarded by the trade magazine “Immobilien Manager”)! We say “Thank you” – to the jury and to the guests who celebrated with us on site in Cologne. Also to the team from Immobilien Manager, who brought this award to life in 2009. And of course we say “thank you” to our great colleagues in Germany who have made the DSTRCT what it is today over the past four years. An award winner!
The beginnings four years ago
We still remember 2018 well… the (century) summer made us all sweat. And not only because of the temperatures. We started planning the project back then. An exciting time: The DSTRCT was our first project ever in Germany, and especially the historic halls on the site brought a lot of potential on the one hand and many challenges on the other. It was not for nothing that the site had lain fallow for almost two decades. Various concepts failed during this time, for example for a congress centre or a car-free quarter. So, together with the monument protection authorities and the architects from Gewers Pudewill in Berlin, we put our heads together for a concept that would finally work. That breathes new life into the site.
Invite the neighbours too
We were then allowed to start construction in 2019 – but not without having discussed our concept with the neighbourhood. In May, we therefore invited the residents to a “Neighbours’ Day” on the building site. In particular, the idea of turning one of the historic halls into a market hall, which would also benefit the surrounding area of the DSTRCT, met with a positive response. By the way, our future office tenants, who we could also announce in 2019: Strato and 1&1 Ionos will move into the DSTRCT at the beginning of 2022 with around 550 employees! The exciting symbiosis of futuristic new building and historic old building has struck a nerve and was also praised in the above-mentioned award.
The pandemic year 2020
Many of us would prefer not to remember the year 2020, when the pandemic began – but from the point of view of our project, at least, it was a good year. For example, Helaba issued us a construction loan of 230 million euros, which we used to push ahead with the revitalisation of the halls and the new building. And we added two more: First, our new office building celebrated its topping-out ceremony. That is a highlight for every project, even if it had to take place in a small circle and under strict Corona conditions. And secondly, we received the WELL Gold pre-certification from the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). Among other things, this certifies that our building has a positive effect on health, explicitly also with regard to air quality. An important signal in times of concern for people’s health.
Even more tenants and the imminent completion
Last year, even more companies decided to make our DSTRCT their future office location: home24, WOWTech, AWIN and hhp, among others. This meant that our new building is almost fully let and we could hardly be happier. The first companies are now moving in soon, as our construction work is almost complete. For our first project in Germany, we couldn’t have picked a nicer one! We are not only proud of the award, but of everything we have achieved in the past four years. Together we have mastered every challenge and overcome every hurdle.
