Jury decision in Aachen: Urban design for new residential district has been chosen
Aachen is getting a new residential district with a wide range of housing options, a commercial building, and a five-group daycare center. It will be built on a former railway site measuring approximately 8,700 square meters between Mariabrunnstraße and Weberstraße, within walking distance of the city center. The quality of the urban development, the design of the open spaces, and the ecological sustainability are ensured by an urban planning workshop process, the results of which are now being presented to politicians.
The process was coordinated by project developer Landmarken AG in collaboration with the city of Aachen. It was organized and implemented by the Dortmund-based firm Scheuvens+Wachten plus. Five architectural firms from across Germany, each in collaboration with partners for open space planning, submitted designs for the site. The winning design was submitted by the Aachen-based firm Zweering Helmus Architektur + Consulting (ZHAC) in collaboration with 3PLUS Freiraumplaner. The design features a spacious, park-like open space that can accommodate a wide range of residential typologies for different user groups and allows for serial construction. Second place went to a submission from the Munich-based firm Palais Mai with Terra.Nova landscape architects.
Both firms were asked in the process, which was originally advertised as a two-stage competition, to revise their designs, which were rated as outstanding, in a third stage in accordance with the jury's requirements. The Aachen-based firm ultimately emerged as the winner from this final revision round.
Representatives of the city administration, politicians, and Landmarken AG formed the jury together with experts from the fields of architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture. The jury was chaired by Prof. Christa Reicher, head of the Institute for Urban Design and European Urban Studies at RWTH Aachen University. "It was a really good process for an extremely complicated site, which has many restrictions due to its location next to the railway, its topography, its urban integration, and issues of noise protection and ventilation," says Christa Reicher. In order to take the complexity into account, the additional third phase of the competition was very important, Reicher continues: "The further revision ultimately resulted in two very good designs."
The urban planning concept of the winning design addresses the neighborhood and ecological concerns of the urban environment in which the property is located. Reducing the degree of sealing to an acceptable minimum, greening the roofs, and considering fresh air movement and the local microclimate were important design parameters.
Aachen's city planning officer, Frauke Burgdorff, is also aware of the challenge:
"We are pleased that the process has found the best way for all parties to effectively leverage the residential construction potential of this remarkably complex site."
The current design will serve as the basis for the subsequent development plan procedure. "I am delighted that we have found a very good and feasible urban design concept in the draft by ZHAC and 3PLUS," says Dr. Friederike Fugmann, Head of Neighborhood Development at Landmarken. "This means we can start the development plan process with momentum and create high-quality living space for Aachen."
