Urban development realisation competition

LOCATION

In the north-east of Munich, next to a major railway line, a construction company is making way for a new neighbourhood. Together with a meadow to the south, the site is ready for a new piece of the city. The surrounding area is characterised by rather small-scale building structures. The aim is to create a compatible addition to the neighbourhood that respects the existing buildings, but at the same time makes sustainable use of the favourable location in the city in terms of an overarching, climate-friendly development of living space. Close to the S-Bahn station and a new underground station, the site offers ideal conditions for creating well-connected flats, shopping facilities and workplaces. However, there are uncertainties regarding the location of the railway tracks in the future. This variable sets a technical and spatial parameter that needs to be taken into account in the planning. Ideally, the concept for the new urban space should integrate both developments in a natural, plausible and high-quality manner. The pending decision should not call into question the qualities of the new neighbourhood. The concept is determined less by a hard edge to the railway than by the integration of landscape qualities into the spatially permeable new figure. A natural interpretation of the expanse of the railway area creates new, generous urban spaces.

CITY SPACE

The design comprehensively preserves the existing trees that are worth keeping. This specification determines the contours of the new neighbourhood and the location of the public green spaces. The open-plan rows of houses encompass relevant and easily recognisable urban spaces. A large, central, public, park-like green space. And other, more spatially differentiated, private yet communal open spaces in the southern courtyards. The neighbourhood thus creates a tangible sequence of sub-spaces. They are park-like open spaces, central neighbourhood squares or open entrances to the neighbourhood. The new four-storey development recedes from the existing buildings to the south-east and west of Marienburger Strasse, creating generous fresh air circulation zones running from south to north while preserving the existing trees. At the same time, this gesture reinforces the impression of Marienburger Strasse as a spacious avenue. Openings between the six-storey building blocks also create an urban connection with the open space to the east and form air corridors that are effective for the urban climate. The centrally located public green space is emphasised by the comprehensive urban figure. Passers-by are guided into the park through the access gates. The green space is embedded in a flowing sequence of courtyards and is directly connected to the urban open space around the monument.

QUARTER

The neighbourhood will therefore be designed as a green, mixed building block of residential and neighbourhood-serving uses. Inside the neighbourhood, two commercial locations complement the public space of the park and the central square. Coffee shops, bakeries and small restaurants benefit from the south-facing orientation of the area and the view of the greenery. These eight-storey point buildings mark the interfaces between the neighbourhood square and the public green space, the railway or the open landscape to the east. A further eight-storey building block mediates between the green space and the listed building, i.e. the public space for possible market use. The buildings are all accessed from the outside. The interior, i.e. the park and courtyard, will remain free of development. Clear addresses along the paths through the neighbourhood are the result. The flats are distributed in the buildings as split-level communities with a flexible arrangement of a wide-ranging mix of flats.