Dutch architecture and urban design firm MVRDV has won the international design competition for the Shift Embassy—a cultural destination in Rotterdam, Netherlands, that aims to inspire visitors to realize large-scale ecological and societal change.

Designed for Shift, a social enterprise helping people live and work more sustainably, MVRDV’s proposal, dubbed Rotterdam ROCKS!, addresses the competition brief’s goal to create a landmark devoted to a future where people and nature live in symbiosis.

Located on the Mass river in Rotterdam, MVRDV’s project provides a rocky green landmark where visitors move around terraces, water, greenery, exhibitions, and gathering spots.

The building comprises seven stacked rocks arranged around two key routes through the building: one for the exhibition experience, the other for the hospitality functions. A third exterior route twists up the sides of the rocks, leading to a publicly accessible viewing terrace. 

To enable the proliferation of nature on the building’s surface, pockmarks and niches on the building skin provide space for soil, water, plants, and animals.

The Shift Embassy will feature a 5,000-square-meter (53,819-sf) immersive experience called the Elysium. In the Elysium, visitors will experience art, stories, and practical pathways for action. The Elysium’s visitors also can access the building’s rooftop terrace.

“Rotterdam ROCKS! departs from how sustainability is traditionally communicated, bringing together joy, discovery, and surprise into a new architectural language,” the Shift jury said. “We anticipate this building and its program will invite people to rethink their everyday behavior and encourage new ways of living sustainably together.”

“Through wonder, curiosity, and imagination, the building and its immersive experience encourages visitors to envision a different future and their role in it,” Shift founder Don Ritzen said in a statement. “We want to show that everyone is able to live a better and more sustainable life by making small and incremental changes in their daily habits.”

The project also will feature a 200-room hotel with spaces for education, business events, and community gatherings, as well as a food court, restaurant, and observation deck.

MVRDV collaborated on the design with Arup, Arcadis, DGMR, SB&Co, and Joris Laarman Lab.

Rotterdam ROCKS! will be built as part of Rotterdam’s Waterkant, a planned riverfront development on the south bank of the Mass that will provide 3,750 new homes, schools, maker spaces, sports campus, train station, offices, restaurants, and cultural spaces.