Ground-breaking ceremony for DOXX in Mainz Zollhafen

The project ‘DOXX’, by schneider+schumacher and bb22, is currently under construction on the prominent harbour quayside site at the Mainz Zollhafen. Those wielding a symbolic spade on Friday 15 September were: Michael Schumacher, an owner of schneider+schumacher; Klaus Verhufen, managing director of the Cologne real estate developer Pandion AG; Axel Strobach, deputy head of the planning department in Mainz; Detlef Höhne, managing director of Zollhafen Mainz Gesellschaft plus Sander Kahlert and Emilio Bertarelli, also from Pandion AG. The shiny gold-coloured six-storey building comprising commercial space and 168 apartments is due for completion in late 2019.

The name DOXX is derived from the shape of the building – a double ‘X’ – and it is also a play on the word ‘docks’. Central to this concept is the distinctive shape of the building and the raised residential accommodation on the upper floor levels. Describing the building, Michael Schumacher explains: "This double-X arrangement offers occupants views in all directions and optimal daylight, and it maximizes the distance to the development lying opposite." The permeable nature of the plinth zone, housing restaurants and retail, will also make a significant contribution to the vibrant urban culture of the site, which is surrounded by water on three sides.

Picture f. l. t. r. Sander Kahlert, Axel Strobach, Detlef Höhne, Michael Schumacher, Klaus Verhufen, Emilio Bertarelli