The major MesseCity development is located in a prime position in Cologne, situated directly between Koelnmesse and Cologne Messe/Deutz train station. The entire project encompasses six office and hotel properties, along with space for gastronomy, services, and retail, totaling 135,000 square meters of gross floor area. For the building complex in the western section with the Zurich Group as the primary tenant, Backstein-Kontor developed custom brick tiles and specialized mortar colors.

The three-building Zurich Campus in the western part of MesseCity is based on a design by Frankfurt-based architecture firm KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten. The 16-story high-rise and two six-story perimeter block structures form a prestigious ensemble where approximately 2,700 Zurich Group employees have relocated to their new offices.

With their clinker brick facades, the buildings pay homage to the adjacent heritage-protected Rhine Halls dating from the 1920s. For the tile facade of the new buildings, the developers and the City of Cologne had specific color requirements that no commercially available brick tile met. Consequently, Backstein-Kontor developed a new product specifically for this project. Through multiple test firings in an extensive process, the team worked toward the desired color appearance until the result met the approval of all stakeholders.

The facade comprises 17,000 square metersof tile surface and approximately 160,000 corner angle components. To prevent visible color variations between the flat surfaces and corner angles, the components were bonded using a specialized method. The result is a homogeneous color appearance—an achievement rarely accomplished with tile facades featuring shaped components. For the joint work, Backstein-Kontor developed two new mortar colors specifically for this project. This allowed for different color effects across the surface using just a single tile color.

With the MesseCity project, Backstein-Kontor once again demonstrated its exceptional expertise in creating custom solutions. Everything from the brick tile to the mortar color was newly developed—delivering a compelling result.

Project: MesseCity, Cologne

Developer: ECE Projektmanagement GmbH & Co. KG, Hamburg

Architect: KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten, Frankfurt

Brick: 130
Format: SF, 290 x 10 x 52 mm
Contractor: GU Züblin

Photographer: Jörg Seiler, Cologne

Backstein-Kontor | Trade and Services in Clay Building Materials GmbH

Bernhard Krutzke

Leyendecker Straße 4, 50825 Cologne
T: +49 221 888785-0

E: info@backstein-kontor.de

www.backstein-kontor.de