A new mixed-use dubbed as the “KoolKiel” by MVRDV is in the works to redevelop a former industrial site in Kiel, Germany. The 65,000 m2 project will use a flexible design system to accommodate for future needs of the community as the area develops.

The site of KoolKiel is currently occupied by a large, single-story building that once stored chains for ships and then became the location where Werner comics were printed during the early 1980s. These days, the building is known as W8 Medienzentrum and houses a unique collection of tenants, who are mostly media and creative companies.

MVRDV's proposed design retains the W8's existing structure as commercial units topped with apartment units. Next to the W8 Medienzentrum will be a new building with a zig-zagging plinth containing office and retail spaces, which will be topped by housing blocks and a small office tower. At the end of the site, a 250-room hotel tower will connect to the zig-zag plinth through a public-event space. There will also be a furnished courtyard and a rooftop park.

The colorful pictographic facade panels, which will be made from fiber reinforced concrete, will feature various icons inspired by creative feedback from the local community, MVRDV says. The project's flexible design system will allow the size and number of cantilevers on the hotel tower to be changeable, the number of pictographic panels displayed on the building, and the size, number, and layout of the apartments above the W8 building.

“In a location with such a dynamic and creative existing community, it’s obvious that the community should have a say in this development,” said MVRDV co-founder and principal Jacob van Rijs in a statement. “KoolKiel is not only inspired by them, but it also allows them to tailor the proposal to their wishes—we’re presenting them with not just a design, but also a question: ‘how ‘Kool’ do you want it?’”

Find more project drawings in the gallery below.

Project facts
Project Name: KoolKiel
Location: Kiel, Germany
Year: 2018+

Credits
Architect: MVRDV
Principal-in-charge: Jacob van Rijs
Design Team: Philipp Kramer, Bartlomiej Markowski, Ruggero Buffo, Bartosz Karasinski, Christine Sohar, Daniel Mayer, and Eleonora Lattanzi
Visualization: Antonio Luca Coco, Luca Piattelli, Masoud Khodadadi 

Partners
Structure: Werner Sobek
Fire: Wenzel + Wenzel
Cost calculation: Wenzel + Wenzel