Eike Becker likes Offenbach.

The unfinished, the open is very appealing to the architect, who is active throughout Germany and who developed the Rockywood office complex with his Berlin team.

Construction work at Offenbach harbor officially began on Wednesday.

Together with the Hamburg project developer Primus and his boss Achim Nagel, Becker has developed a sustainable office complex whose larger, L-shaped component consists largely of wooden modules.

Jochen Remert

Airport editor and correspondent Rhein-Main-Süd.

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The basement, the ground floor and safety-relevant parts of the five floors are also made of concrete in the building called Wood, otherwise the building is made entirely of wooden modules.

This not only halves the construction time compared to conventional construction with concrete, the CO2 balance of the building is also much better because the wood used binds around 2300 tons of CO2.

In addition, Primus reforests the wood used.

Primus calls this the “Wood Cycle Concept”.

"I was pleasantly surprised that, in addition to the wonderful location on the harbor basin with a view of the Frankfurt skyline, the CO2-positive construction method has become so important for our tenants," said Nagel.

New home for Offenbach boxing club

The two buildings are scheduled to be erected in 15 months and will then stand on a shared site of around 10,000 square meters, connected by a public square that Becker calls "the plaza".

According to him, this square is even the heart of the project.

Because he sees a central task of architecture in enabling communication between people, as he puts it – and especially between people from very different social contexts.

It is therefore only logical for him to make this place accessible not only to those who work "in the Rocky and in the Wood", but also to the residents of Offenbach's north end.

It is also important to Becker that the children of the district accept the new place at the port.

"If a city is good for children, then it's good for everyone," he says.

Becker's understanding of architecture also fits in with the fact that the Nordend boxing club, with its prevention, integration and youth work, will find its new home on the first floor of the Wood after the old boxing club hall has to make way for the new project.

After all, the club had its domicile there for almost 15 years, in which the sports director Bernd Hackfort, President Wolfgang Malik and their helpers not only enable the young people of Offenbach to achieve sporting success, but also provide tutoring for school advancement.

Daniela Matha, Managing Director of OPG, the public utility company responsible for developing the harbor district, and Mayor Felix Schwenke (SPD) were also very pleased that a joint effort with the investor had succeeded in

After the project was delayed due to a temporary weakness in the office market, Primus is now reporting an occupancy rate of almost 60 percent.

The company E-Bike Advanced Technologies will move into around 1800 square meters with its administration, which has so far been located on Frankfurt's Stephanstraße, in the massive Rocky with lots of glass, directly on the harbor promenade and the express cycle route to Frankfurt.

The company TMS Trademarketing Service has secured around 1900 square meters on the fourth floor of the Wood.

TMS has left the previous Frankfurt location on Hanauer Landstrasse.

According to the information, a geoengineering cluster with Blasius Schuster and CDM Smith is to be built on the third floor of the Wood.

The environmental experts at CDM Smith are very familiar with Offenbach's port: the company accompanied the conversion of the former industrial and oil port into an attractive residential and office district that is very popular.

Schwenke, who as head of department is also responsible for economic development, sees the city's strategy of recommending itself as a location for innovative companies confirmed once again.

Meanwhile, architect Becker is already looking at what is soon planned next to Rockywood: the new building for the Hochschule für Gestaltung.

According to Becker, he would very much like to work there.

The corresponding competition is to be decided in autumn.