An architect graduated from Riga Polytechnic Institute in 1882. Zirkwitz worked as an appraiser for several insurance companies, he was also a building inspector at the Riga City Construction Board (1887, 1894 and 1897) and a drawing teacher in a grammar school (1879–1886). He had a busy architectural practice in Riga. Zirkwitz was the author of Igate Manor (in Limbaži Area, around 1890), and about 25 multi-storey masonry residential buildings were built to his designs in Riga. His favourite style was Eclecticism and most of his buildings are iconic representatives of this style, though in some cases they also include some ornamental motifs characteristic of Art Nouveau, e.g. the house at Vīlandes iela 11 (1899). The area of Ausekļa and Vīlandes Streets boasts the most impressive buildings designed by this architect.