MVRDV Wins Competition to Design Shift Embassy in Rotterdam

Published on July 21, 2026

MVRDV has won the international design competition organized by the social enterprise Shift to design the Shift Embassy, a new cultural destination planned for Rotterdam's developing Waterkant district. Conceived as a hybrid of architecture and landscape, the proposal, titled Rotterdam ROCKS! combines exhibition spaces, hospitality, education, public amenities, and ecological infrastructure within a publicly accessible building intended to support Shift's mission of engaging visitors with environmental and societal challenges. The project will form part of Waterkant, a large-scale urban development on the south bank of the Maas, planned to include 3,750 homes alongside schools, workplaces, cultural venues, and public spaces.

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Designed by MVRDV, Rotterdam ROCKS! takes the form of seven stacked, rock-like volumes arranged around a network of interior and exterior circulation routes. The proposal extends the adjacent riverside landscape vertically through planted terraces, viewpoints, water features, and publicly accessible paths, creating a continuous sequence of outdoor and indoor spaces. The building's porous facade incorporates niches and cavities intended to support vegetation, retain water, and provide habitats for urban biodiversity.

At the center of the program is The Elysium, a 5,000-square-meter immersive exhibition experience that aims to explore future scenarios through art, storytelling, and interactive installations rather than conventional displays. The building will also accommodate a 200-room hotel, education spaces, conference and event facilities, food and beverage venues, community gathering spaces, and an observation deck. According to Shift, the project is intended to bring together cultural programming, architecture, and public engagement around themes including climate, energy, biodiversity, mobility, and circularity.

MVRDV, Heatherwick Studio, and Mecanoo Among Five Shortlisted Teams for Shift Sustainability Landmark in Rotterdam

The design incorporates reused steel, reduced-carbon concrete, bio-based materials, and circular construction methods while exploring robotic fabrication and large-scale 3D printing technologies. MVRDV proposes documenting the construction process as an ongoing experiment, allowing the building to function as a testing ground for low-carbon building techniques and material innovation. The architects propose making these environmental systems visible to visitors rather than concealing them within the building's infrastructure. A monitoring system would display real-time data on energy consumption, water cycles, biodiversity, vegetation, and material performance, positioning the building as a testing ground for sustainable construction practices. According to the design team, this approach is intended to allow the building to evolve over time as technologies, regulations, and environmental knowledge continue to develop.

The Shift Embassy competition launched in January 2025 as a two-stage international process inviting multidisciplinary teams to develop proposals integrating architecture, engineering, ecology, and cultural programming. Following an initial field of 80 submissions, five finalists- Ecosistema Urbano, Heatherwick Studio, Mecanoo, MVRDV, and Office for Political Innovation- were invited to develop final proposals presented in March 2026. After a verification process and a subsequent pre-design phase, Shift selected the team led by MVRDV, together with Arup, Arcadis, DGMR, Studio Bertels, and Joris Laarman Labs, as the competition winner. The refined design is now being presented ahead of a public participation process scheduled for autumn 2026.