Westgate
Cologne office and retail building heated and cooled by its own groundwater system, crowned by a glass dome.
During construction on Habsburgerring, archaeologists uncovered remains of the medieval city fortifications — a find that is set to remain visible inside the complex.
Source: Wikipedia
At a Glance
- Type
- Office and commercial building with retail and dining space
- Location
- Habsburgerring 2, Cologne Altstadt-Süd, near Rudolfplatz
- Completion
- ready for occupancy mid-2011, first tenants from August 1, 2011
- Floors
- seven, approx. 31,600 m² gross floor area
- Underground parking
- 162 spaces
- Architecture
- Hentrich-Petschnigg & Partner HPP, Düsseldorf
- Special feature
- heating and cooling via on-site groundwater wells
Beneath the building, groundwater is drawn from six of its own wells at a depth of 25 meters and used via heat pumps for heating and cooling, then returned to the same aquifer storage — a near-natural energy cycle running right under the office building.
Architecture
A public atrium on the first upper floor is reached via an open staircase. Its bright inner courtyard is sheltered by a transparent dome 26 meters above. Panoramic elevators and an escalator inside the building provide access to the office floors.
Energy Concept
Extensive glazing floods the interior with daylight. Six in-house wells draw groundwater from a depth of 25 meters; heat exchangers and heat pumps use its temperature for both heating and cooling before the water returns to the aquifer store. Compared with similar mixed-use buildings, primary energy demand is more than 30 percent lower, and CO2 emissions are cut by over half. While the office floors rely entirely on renewable energy, the retail and dining areas also draw on district heating. For this approach, Westgate received the European Union's GreenBuilding certification, making it the second MEAG building in Cologne to earn this distinction after the Cologne Oval Offices.
History and Name
The scientifically documented moat-retaining wall, about 1.30 meters thick, once absorbed the embankment pressure of the old city defenses. The name recalls the site's history: along the western axis of Aachener Strasse–Neumarkt–Dom, crowned kings once traveled from Aachen to the shrine of the Three Kings in the Middle Ages. The nearby Hahnentorburg gate marked the entrance to the city.
Development
The ERGO insurance group served as developer, with Munich-based MEAG handling implementation. Cologne's urban master plan designates the site as an area of high development potential. The topping-out ceremony took place in June 2010, with Mayor Jürgen Roters noting that Westgate would raise Rudolfplatz's profile. From 2012, project management and anti-claim oversight were handled by OH-Bauconsult GmbH.
Timeline
- 2010Topping-out ceremony for Westgate held in June 2010.
- 2011Building was ready for occupancy by mid-2011.
- 1. August 2011First tenants moved into Westgate.
- 2012Project management by OH-Bauconsult GmbH began in 2012.
Map
Blue dots: other places nearby — tap to explore.
You might also like — related or nearby
Comments
- Loading comments…
Sources & links
Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-09-13
How this page is made
This page draws on open sources — Wikipedia, Wikidata, official websites and the city’s open data. Every statement is checked against the sources linked here, and pages are refreshed regularly.
Spotted a mistake anyway? Tell us below — we read every submission.