Commercial development in the port: topping-out ceremony for "Rockywood"
30.05.2023 – Eleven months after the ground-breaking ceremony, the "Rockywood" project at Offenbach harbour celebrated its topping-out ceremony in the presence of Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke. With the construction of the new office building in timber hybrid construction, which will also house the Nordend boxing club, Hamburg-based project developer Primus developments is once again involved in the revitalization of the port. Just a stone's throw away from its "Marina Gardens" residential project, which was completed in 2019, the company managed by Achim Nagel is constructing a five-storey office ensemble consisting of two buildings on the harbor basin between the EVO coal storage facility and the new building site of the Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) and, as with other construction projects, is once again relying on wood as a renewable building material.
For Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke, the office ensemble is not just any old project, but a key milestone in the development of the port. After all: "Following the successful completion of the residential development, Offenbach's harbor district is now also taking a very important step forward as a commercial and office location," says Mayor Schwenke. To complete the development of the port, which will certainly take a few more years, it is important that the port is also perceived as a location for offices in the service and creative industries.
"I am delighted," said the Lord Mayor, "that not only the German e-bike company E Bike Advanced Technologies will now locate its headquarters here and manage development, sales and administration from Rockywood. The owner-managed communications agency TMS, which focuses on point-of-sale, and the recruitment agency Toppeople will also set up shop here." In addition, a geo-engineering cluster is being created with the waste disposal and recycling specialist Blasius Schuster as the driver and the environmental experts from CDM Smith Consult, which is already active in the port. Mayor Schwenke: "Another future-oriented industry is being created here in Offenbach. And Offenbach as a business location is also on course for growth overall and is attracting more and more companies," said Schwenke.
In addition to the port, Offenbach's positive economic development can be seen at the Innovation Campus with the particularly significant settlements of Samson and BioSpring. The companies Axa, Helaba, Hyundai and Genesis have already expanded at Kaiserlei and Danfoss will soon complete the construction of the "LEIQ" with its new German headquarters. "The fact that it has been possible in recent years to initiate such a broad development in all corners of the city and not just in one place is a great opportunity for Offenbach," says Schwenke. The city is finally being taken seriously as a business location and accepted by companies. And this is also clearly evident in the port.
Vital micro-neighborhood
According to Primus developments, the "Rockywood" office ensemble being built in the port is a lively micro-quarter with two five-storey office buildings around a public square covering around 10,000 square meters. The ensemble, designed by Berlin architect Eike Becker, consists of the detached solitaire "Rocky" on the harbor promenade and the L-shaped timber module building "Wood" along Hafenallee. With their green roofs, they enclose a raised square, called Playground, which is equipped with trees and colorful furniture. On the roof of the ground-level garage with around 60 parking spaces, there is an attractive area with a view of the Frankfurt skyline and the River Main. In the north-west of the site, on the waterfront promenade of the harbor basin, is the detached solitaire "Rocky" in solid construction. With its column-free loft offices, Rocky offers 400 square meters of flex offices on four floors. The floor-to-ceiling windows offer views of Offenbach harbor and the Frankfurt skyline.
Its counterpart in the south-west is the angular timber hybrid building "Wood" with around 8,000 square meters of flexible office space - despite its modular timber construction with spans of up to eleven meters. Its four upper floors, which rest on a concrete base, are built using modular timber construction. The wooden surfaces of the construction will also be visible inside and create a warm working atmosphere. "Wood" will have a glass façade with aluminum mullions on the first floor and a suspended wooden slat façade on the upper floors. Around three-metre-wide pergolas opening onto the playground with stainless steel cable nets as fall protection provide access to the upper floors and offer space for social and interdisciplinary exchange.
"Rockywood is an ecological, sustainable project and sets standards in resource-conserving construction," explains client Achim Nagel, owner of Primus developments. Thanks to the modular timber construction method and serial pre-production, his company, which he runs together with his son Lorenz Nagel, will be able to complete "Rockywood" in just 17 months by the end of 2023, halving the construction time compared to a conventionally constructed building. According to the project developer, around 2,600 cubic meters of wood will be used for the wooden modules of "Wood", which will bind over 2,600 tons of CO2. However, Primus developments goes one step further: according to its Woodcycle recycling concept, the wood used will be replanted and grow back over a period of 40 years.
Ecologically and socially responsible
Together with Daniela Matha, Managing Director of OPG, the public utility company responsible for the development of the port, Mayor Schwenke emphasized that "Rockywood" sets standards in terms of sustainability not only in terms of resource-saving construction, but also in terms of a balanced, socially responsible mix of uses. In a joint effort by the investor and the city, it has been possible to retain the Nordend boxing club, which has received numerous awards for its prevention and integration work, and to integrate it into the new building. Thanks to financial support from the City of Offenbach and Primus developments GmbH, the club will be able to use its new home rent-free for 20 years. According to Schwenke, the "Rockywood" project will create a further link between Nordend and the harbor, just as the harbor school and the harbor center have already done. This is important to ensure that the new district does not develop in isolation from the rest of the city.
"With its holistic approach to ecological and social sustainability and social responsibility, Rockywood follows the legally prescribed ESG criteria - except that the legal obligation did not even exist when we started the project five years ago," says developer Achim Nagel. "Once again, we were probably a little ahead of our time."
