More than 80 visitors came to guided tours offered by the KZA team on Architecture Day 2018, on the last weekend in June. This year, the Essen architects presented the parking garage on the premises of Aldi South in Mülheim an der Ruhr and the new Bitmarck headquarters in Europa Center in Essen.

The tour through the Aldi South parking garage on Saturday afternoon dealt with the basic requirements for the building in the first place. What does it take for around 1000 cars to get in and out of the parking garage every day? How can one ensure that drivers feel safe in the evening?

Axel Koschany, Managing Partner at KZA, and planner Ceylan Akgün provided answers to these questions. In addition, they explained how the idea for the special design of the parking garage with its bright green perforated facade was created.

As the KZA team has also planned the office buildings and the day care center on the premises of Aldi South, the guests had the opportunity to get an insight into the structure of the entire area. Construction work is currently underway there: the sixth construction phase with additional office space and a cafeteria is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.

The establishment of modern offices was in the focus in the new Europa Center building in Essen on Sunday, too. Many visitors wanted to find out what lies behind the façade of this striking building on the corner of Friedrichstraße and Kruppstraße. „The main design feature is a black ribbon, which we led across the building in a meandering movement,“ explained Achim Bassa, Managing Director of Koschany + Zimmer Projektentwicklung.

The offices, which have been developed along a main road, are organized both in large-scale structures and in smaller units. In doing so, they perfectly meet the needs of their main tenant, the IT service provider Bitmarck. „We put a lot of emphasis on communication in the facility,“ said Antje Schaaf, Head of Human Resources and Organization at Bitmarck.

The guests were especially impressed by the state-of-the-art equipment in the offices – with large windows, adjustable desks and intelligent LED lighting. The green courtyards and the balcony areas also received a lot of attention – as well as the topic of sustainability. The building has received the gold certificate of the German Association for Sustainable Building (DGNB).