DEG commissioned SOP architects to build extension

• Additional office space in Cologne’s city centre
• Featuring distinctive "Skybox"
• Construction work scheduled for end of 2014

DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, a subsidiary of KfW, is planning an extension to be built in Cologne’s city centre. In Agrippastrasse, right opposite DEG’s headquarters, additional office space is going to be created for its employees. The architects’ office Slapa Oberholz Pszczulny (SOP) from Düsseldorf was awarded the contract to create the new building. Construction work is scheduled to start by the end of 2014.

"Thanks to excellent business development, DEG has undergone dynamic growth in recent years. Our head offices designed to house 450 staff are now full to capacity," said Philipp Kreutz, member of the DEG Management Board. "This is why we want to build an extension in the immediate vicinity which – just like our head offices – will guarantee impressive sustainability, cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency and offer a comfortable working environment."

The plans are for a five-storey building with 660 square metre floor space each that will accommodate around another 120 workspaces. The architectural design, which is now to be realised, features a glass façade broken up by projections and recesses. At the same time it incorporates design elements of the main DEG building. The glass "Skybox" will be a striking distinctive feature of the extension: occupying around 200 square metres, erected on the Agrippastrasse / Nord-Süd-Fahrt corner above the fourth floor and surrounded by green roof terraces. The design provides for a visually attractive underground passage-way, linking the head offices and the extension building.

In Agrippastrasse, DEG previously made the "new talents – temporary art tower" available for temporary cultural use, offering young people in Cologne – visual artists, dancers and musicians – space to be creative. The space also hosted various exhibitions, for instance as part of the design event “Passagen 2014” and the festival “new talents - biennale cologne”. Another key event was the photographic exhibition of the young South African Matthew Willman, entitled “The Heritage Collection”. As part of its civic commitment, DEG is thus contributing towards the Agrippa Quarter, which is becoming a magnet for culture in Cologne with the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum and in future the Literaturhaus (Literature House).

DEG has been based in the cathedral city of Cologne since its foundation in 1962 and today it is one of Europe’s largest development finance institutions. In the past year alone, DEG committed EUR 1.5 billion for private investments in developing and emerging-market countries.