Rising south of the Rhine tunnel, and nestled beside the Überflieger, stands a striking new complex that seamlessly merges maximum spatial flexibility with thoughtful design and sustainability. The creative campus "Mizal" was designed by the Düsseldorf-based firm Eller + Eller and developed for Codic Development, now home to WPP—the world's largest advertising company. Spanning over 52,000 m² of floor space, this bold ensemble earned DGNB Gold certification for its exceptional sustainable architecture.

The architects faced a complex urban puzzle: a tight site wedged between the railway embankment, Völklinger Straße, Plockstraße, and the state capital's busiest traffic corridors—all surrounded by highly disparate existing structures. Rather than fight this complexity, they embraced it. The result: a thoughtfully articulated campus where multiple buildings function as one integrated, creatively networked whole. The composition makes intelligent use of every square meter while remaining remarkably refined. A meandering façade creates generous inner courtyards, drawing the outdoor landscape into the building itself. Staggered projections and recesses establish an intimate human scale, reinforced by a carefully orchestrated play of heights—from the soaring 11-story tower to the grounded 4-story base and 5-story campus building.Arriving by car? You'll experience Germany's largest hybrid automated parking system as you descend into the underground garage—a fully robotic solution from Lödige Industries that maximizes space while minimizing environmental impact. Pedestrians and cyclists enjoy direct access from Hemmersbacherweg, bypassing the traffic arteries entirely. Entrances are thoughtfully dispersed among the buildings, each opening into a verdant biotope-like plaza that beckons visitors to linger and connect.The façade itself commands attention. This low-maintenance closed-cavity system—the largest of its kind in Germany—features an innovative double-shell construction that's optimized for building physics. It spirals gracefully across the buildings in horizontal bands, wrapping around gently rounded corners and recessed loggias. Ingeniously woven into this skin are ventilation, acoustic dampening, glare and solar control, and self-cleaning technology—all working in concert.Inside, the office floors embrace radical openness. Stairs, elevators, and support spaces cluster in a central core, leaving expansive, uninterrupted floor plates stretching to the perimeter. Units of up to 3,200 m² can be realized without a single partition wall, offering unprecedented flexibility for creative collaboration, focused work, or anything in between.Connection to the outside permeates every level. Views sweep across inner courtyards toward Media Harbour, the Stadttor, the Rhine Tower, and the city skyline—with the green, accessible roofscapes completing the picture. The highly transparent façade becomes a living portrait, broadcasting the dynamic creative life within while serving as the perfect architectural calling card.

www.eller-eller.de

Photography Credits:

Manos Meisen
www.manosmeisen.de

(Published in CUBE Düsseldorf 04|23)