GIZ celebrates the inauguration of its new office building in Bonn known as the ‘Meander Building’

The building was constructed in line with the latest environmental standards.

Bonn/Eschborn, 30-6-2015 — /EuropaWire/ — Today the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is celebrating the inauguration of its new office building in Bonn known as the ‘Meander Building’. Construction started in March 2013 and was completed on time earlier this year, enabling GIZ to move in at the start of June 2015. The new building offers space for around 500 employees.

Construction costs stayed within the budget framework of EUR 70 million. Tanja Gönner, Chair of the GIZ Management Board, noted that this is the largest investment that GIZ has ever made. ‘We have built our office complex in Bonn, in a city that, to all intents and purposes, is the German capital of sustainability and international cooperation,’ said Gönner, addressing more than 200 guests, including Germany’s Federal Development Minister Gerd Müller, State Minister Angelica Schwall-Düren and Bonn’s Mayor Jürgen Nimptsch.

‘We are also strengthening our Bonn-based activities via a multitude of joint projects in and with the region – especially with the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. International cooperation, for instance vocational training with Chile, economic cooperation with China and Africa and of course North-Rhine Westphalia’s own One World Strategy, are valuable bridge-builders that we, as GIZ, are pleased to support,’ explained Gönner. Another successful project was the first Bonn Conference for Global Transformation, which took place in mid-May and attracted 800 participants from 70 countries to the city.

‘With the Meander Building, GIZ now has its own property in Bonn. This will strengthen the city, enriching it with another important and modern office complex. I hope that GIZ’s employees not only enjoy working here, but that the successful architecture will also inspire them and unlock even more creativity,’ said Angelica Schwall-Düren, Minister of Federal Affairs, Europe and the Media in the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia and the woman in charge of the state’s One World Strategy and development policy.

Jürgen Nimptsch, Bonn’s Mayor, added that, ‘With the inauguration of our extension to the World Conference Center Bonn on 7 June and today’s inauguration of GIZ’s Meander Building, we are making excellent progress in realising paragraph six of the Berlin/Bonn Act – prioritising Bonn’s development as a location for development policy and national, international and supranational institutions.’

GIZ Managing Director Hans-Joachim Preuß presented the building design, which meets the latest environmental standards. The Meander Building is carbon neutral and has solar panels on the roof that produce additional electricity – as befits a federal enterprise for sustainable development. GIZ hopes to receive a silver certificate from the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). DGNB certification is awarded to buildings that not only conserve resources, but are also functional and comfortable.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federal enterprise with worldwide operations. We support the German Government in the fields of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education. Through our work we assist people and societies in shaping their own futures and improving living conditions.

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