Duisburg Inner Harbour Masterplan, Duisburg, Germany
1991-2003/2007-
Foster + Partners


Foster + Partners

Aurelis masterplan for Duisburg

Foster + Partners has revealed the Aurelis masterplan for Duisburg in the Ruhr region of Germany, which will regenerate a 36-hectare site close to the city centre with a major new commercial and residential hub. The project will extend the lively, mixed-use character of the practice’s masterplan for Duisburg’s centre and Inner Harbour to create a thriving new business community with shops, cafés, homes and an extensive green heart.

The Aurelis masterplan occupies a prime location – the Alter Güterbahnhof – close to Duisburg’s arterial road network and the main railway station, which is just 10 minutes by train from Düsseldorf airport. The elongated site forms an island within the city centre, bounded by a motorway on one side and railway lines on the other. Access to the site is restricted to just the northern and southern points, so the masterplan will reinstate a lateral connection to the adjacent residential neighbourhoods by raising the former railway tracks currently buried under the landscape. The park is a continuous landscape that creates a green link to the River Rhein and provides a focal point for the new development, intersected by pathways to establish new pedestrian links to the city.

Accommodating workspaces for around 10,000 people, the character of the scheme gradually changes as it progresses through the park along the central pedestrian promenade. The area closest to the station is urban and dense, incorporating a rich mixture of uses, with a hotel, shops, offices and a public square. Towards the centre of the masterplan, the offices combine with apartments, which step down towards the park and lake, while the offices are integrated with light industrial units at the most southerly point.

The outer edge of the buildings will form a protective shell, insulating the development from the noise of the nearby road and trains, while creating a calm green oasis at its heart. There is a large cascading pond, which contributes to the environmental strategy via water retention and the use of grey water, along with measures such as green roofs, rainwater harvesting, and buildings oriented to optimise thermal mass, natural daylight and ventilation.

Stefan Behling, a senior partner at Foster + Partners, said:
“The Aurelis masterplan represents the next step in the reinvention of Duisburg as a modern, attractive place to live and work by injecting life into this long-neglected island at the city’s heart. Foster + Partners’ masterplan is conceived to create a thriving new business community, while also attracting families and residents of all ages to the area to enjoy the park, shops and cafes.”



Previously:

The largest inland harbour in the world, Duisburg Inner Harbour’s renewal provided the opportunity to test, at a large scale, ideas about mixed use and sustainability. The masterplan aims to draw the life of the city to the waterfront, establishing the harbour as an attractive place in which to live and work.

27/02/2007
New masterplan for inner city Duisburg

The new masterplan for the inner city of Duisburg revealed today builds on the success of Foster + Partners’ Inner Harbour redevelopment and will strengthen Duisburg’s transformation into a vibrant, green and sustainable city.

Duisburg is part of a metropolis and faces competition from regional shopping centres and surrounding cities. In order to be competitive, and to develop its identity, it must attract a well balanced mix of culture, business and residents. The masterplan aims to strengthen the inner city as a local and regional focus for retail and leisure, and consequently increase its density. This will create a sustainable urban environment where rich mixed-use activity supports population growth and greater reliance on public transport, bicycles and walking.


narinder sagoo_foster partners

A regional population of 11.1 million people live just an hour away, placing Duisburg in a sound position. As Germany’s second most well-connected city, a main catalyst for the masterplan lies in developing existing links between public transport infrastructures. It is envisaged that the central retail area along the Königstrasse spine will extend and connect with an improved central railway station and the interchange for private and public transport.

The masterplan offers extensive new areas for development that are primarily residential, but also include offices, retail, cultural and leisure facilities. As a result, the inner city population is expected to increase by 25 per cent, encouraging regeneration and attracting a wider socio-economic mix. At the northern boundary of the shopping area, the Rathausplatz will be reclaimed from parking and traffic spaces to become again a central urban focus for the regenerated historic fabric. New landmark buildings at key entry points to the inner city will signal Duisburg’s ambition and will assert its presence.

Part of Duisburg’s 114km of water frontage has already been transformed in the Inner Harbour area from an underused industrial wasteland to an attractive, diverse urban environment. Similarly, new residential developments in the inner city will be formed along the waterfront and around generous landscaped spaces creating intimate, inviting places for urban dwellers to enjoy.


Foster + Partners © Nigel Young

Drawing on Duisburg’s extensive infrastructure and possibility for increased inner city use, as well as an improved environment, the masterplan promotes an attractive sustainable city to dwell in.

Lord Foster said:
“The inner city Duisburg masterplan builds on the success of our Inner Harbour redevelopment and continues the transformation of Duisburg into a sustainable city for the twenty-first century. Our ambition is to strengthen Duisburg’s civic identity by utilising its infrastructure and promoting the denser use of its centre, creating a modern city that has a rich mixture of cultural, commercial and residential activity at its heart.”



Duisburg Harbour Masterplan architects : Foster + Partners

Aurelis Masterplan Duisburg also by Foster + Partners

Europort (Eurogate), Duisburg Harbour - Zero emissions building
2006-
Foster & Partners

Duisburg building : Köppersmöhle Museum

German Architecture

Architecture in cities near Duisburg:
Düsseldorf Buildings
Essen Buildings



World Architecture : e-architect - a guide to key buildings across the globe

Gelsenkirchen Stadium

Comments / photos for the Duisburg Inner Harbour Masterplan Architecture page welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk

Duisburg Inner Masterplan Buildings - page: adrian welch / isabelle lomholt