International architecture contest:
PANDION and City of Düsseldorf select winning design

March 2022

In an intensive digital jury session on 03.03.2022, eleven architectural offices presented their designs for the construction of a mixed-use high-rise building in Düsseldorf-Oberkassel. Together with representatives from politics and administration of the state capital, we selected the winning design, which comes from the international architects UNStudio from Amsterdam and OKRA Landscape Architects. The design is convincing due to its clear design, which carefully blends into the urban context with a balanced language of forms.

The task was to design an inner-city mixed-use high-rise building on a planned area of 6,100 square meters - an independent and sustainable urban building block as the end point of the overall development of the "Belsenpark" area.

The mix of residential, commercial and (partially) public spaces is to form a striking high point at the western entrance to the city.

"With our mixed-use high-rise, we will be developing an important and architecturally outstanding urban building block in Düsseldorf on the left bank of the Rhine over the next few years," says Klaus Küppers, head of PANDION´s Cologne office. "As the western end to Belsenpark and as an urban entrée, the elegant building presents itself in all directions as a high-rise with a variety of uses. The open and inviting base area networks with the neighborhood and allows a variety of high-quality spaces for living and working. The state capital thus gains another high-quality and innovative building with charisma."

"When it comes to dominant architectural solutions on important urban axes and locations, it has once again become clear with this procedure that this can only be done through a competitive best selection with participation. A broad majority decided in favor of the UNStudio building after intensive discussion of many good approaches. Now the elaboration and urban land-use planning process will follow in order to make this development possible," says Cornelia Zuschke, head of the planning department of the state capital Düsseldorf.

The winning design will subsequently be further developed or adapted in line with the jury´s recommendations and integrated into the planning for our approximately 46,500 square meter site. The current development plan process will then be continued. Citizens will then have another opportunity to comment on the planned overall concept during the public display.