JSWD - Curve X - Düsseldorf - Germany

2025-11-14

A vacant lot in the heart of Düsseldorf has been filled with a bright red building. In 2018, the developer from Hamburg organized a competition for the development of the plot, which stretches deep into the interior of the city block. The future office building needed to be sustainable and offer high-quality interiors. JSWD submitted a concept for an x-shaped building with a bright red facade and was chosen to carry out the project.

Today, the new office building is confidently situated within the existing structures around the perimeter of the block. Six stories, with a setback, the height of the street frontage remains in line with its neighbors on either side. The building sits flush with the buildings at its flanks before curving in at the center with an unexpected flourish. This flowing movement creates a protected forecourt within the building line, highlights the position of the main entrance, and ultimately gives the building its name.

The large display windows on the ground floor of the Curve Offices lend it an open, inviting character. With red steel panels and slender pilaster strips positioned in front of continuous window strips, the facade of the office floors above takes on a more austere appearance, which is given a pleasant dynamic by the compression of the lines created by the curves.

From the edge of the block, the new building’s two arms stretch into the interior; the height of this portion matches that of the neighboring buildings. The remaining outdoor spaces, which were previously used as a parking lot, have been greened, resulting is a more pleasant atmosphere and an improved microclimate for all neighboring offices and apartments.

In addition to parking spaces in the courtyard, employees and visitors can park their cars and bikes in the two-story underground parking garage. With its x-shaped layout, the building is accessed from the center; the staircases, elevators, sanitary facilities, and ancillary rooms are all centrally positioned to allow for the entire spectrum of modern workspace concepts, while at the same time maximizing natural light.

The building aims to achieve DGNB Gold certification, has already been pre-certified with WiredScore Gold, and meets the requirements for the KfW Efficiency House 40 standard thanks to features like its solar power system.

About JSWD

The firm JSWD is an office with approximately 240 employees from 30 nations, who operate internationally. JSWD was founded in 2000 by the four partners: Jürgen Steffens, Olaf Drehsen, and brothers Konstantin and Frederik Jaspert. The partners started their architectural careers as RWTH students in Aachen. Günter Behnisch, Schuster Architects, as well as Volkwin Marg (gmp) influenced their further professional development, followed by teaching posts and the establishment of the firm.

In the last several years, JSWD has realized more than 60 projects in Germany and increasingly in other European countries, often following successfully entered competitions. "JSWD Health Care" was also founded in 2010.

Since 2024, JSWD has been led by the founding partners Olaf Drehsen and Frederik Jaspert, partners Christian Mammel, Mario Pirwitz, and Tobias Unterberg, and associate partners Hermann Norda and Helmut Schröder. JSWD finds further architectural, technical, and intellectual inspiration in cooperative ventures with other architectural firms in France and Luxembourg, in the USA, and in China, while maintaining a collaborative exchange in the realization of joint construction projects.

Photo credit: Franco Casaccia / JSWD - Nils Koenning