Habitat – quarters in the grove
The CHC site is in a special scenic location on a plain sloping away from the river that was once a swamp. This particular topographical location – in contrast to the usual slope of the terrain towards the river – is accentuated by the large-scale industrial buildings. The main road with the shed of the former chapel is at the highest point, and the surface water collects at the western foot of the slope.
Conglomerate, streets, squares and landscape
The urban development concept responds to this special situation typologically and in terms of the landscape. With the preservation and careful conversion of the Shedhalle, a large-scale, “dry” post-industrial conglomerate is created. The Schappe is linked to the historic industrial buildings on the Kleine Emme, such as the steelworks or Viscosi, and maintains the historic face to the main street and the new Reussbühlplatz. At the back, into the hollow, an open building structure is created. These are located on the street spaces Täschmattstrasse and Zollhausstrasse, which are thus strengthened and framed while remaining porous and permeable to the interior. There, a “wet” landscape is created with the neighborhood square, over which the important diagonal foot connection to the Rothen neighborhood runs. The urban structure allows a later decision for preservation, partial preservation or replacement of the administration building. Three historic, carefully designed and built modernist carriage houses will be partially preserved. They form attractive, historical witnesses of the times, radiating a special atmosphere in the area and maintaining a smaller scale.
An atmospherically strong “post-industrial conglomerate”.
The prelude to the quarter is Reussbühlplatz, a “water square” where water can be experienced and invites people to play, stay and meet. Behind the façade of the Schappe is an open space planted with climbing plants as an impressive “hortus conclusus”. It houses a café that can occupy the outdoor area as far as Reussbühlplatz. An open and public passage leads through the Shedhalle as a direct connection to the Kleine Emme. Entrances to the major retailer, the neighborhood space, the central underground parking garage, the central bicycle hall and the office space on the upper floor are located along it.
Retail businesses are located on Main Street and benefit from a shared delivery from Zollhausstrasse.
Concentration and switching of activities
The “post-industrial conglomerate” thus assembled concentrates the public-oriented uses in the footprint of the Shedhalle. The preservation of the spatial contour, the facades and large parts of the roof structure give the commercial areas a unique atmosphere in which various concepts of use are imaginable – wholesalers, manufactories, specialty stores, gastronomy, creative industries, etc. The spatial frame allows for a “switching” of activity in the neighborhood: during business hours the space is heavily used and the spatial frame concentrates the activity, but remains connected to the surrounding neighborhood through the porous facades and can spill over into these spaces. Outside business hours, this space remains spatially defined and thus clearly differentiated from the residential quarter, but also from the public kick-off square Reussbühl. By forming this threshold space, it is possible to prevent closed stores from creating a “dead atmosphere” in the public space.
A water landscape for living
The neighborhood square behind the Shedhalle is the center of the residential neighborhood. Along the canal path, which follows the historic course of the canal along the west side of the Shedhalle, are the neighborhood space, bicycle hall and studios. A low-rise residential addition replaces the current additions to the Schappe, which cannot be retained structurally, and provides a good transition to the residential neighborhood. Precise modulation of the topography is used to achieve a very high retention rate, design a careful transition from the first floor apartments, and at the same time create an attractive open space that can be used in a variety of ways. In more central locations, the first floors can alternatively be used for commercial purposes; the room height allows for change of use. The climate-adaptive vegetation concept and compact basements allow for a dense placement of trees, which contribute decisively to a high quality of stay and a pleasant microclimate. The “wet landscape” offers a good living environment with areas designed close to nature and a direct link to the theme of water, biodiversity and climate.
Considerations for the North Perimeter
A comparable urban design concept is proposed for the North Perimeter. Towards the Kleine Emme, another post-industrial conglomerate is created, in which the base theme of the previous planning is preserved and further developed. To the rear, an open development pattern is created with a central open space that strengthens key pathway connections to the neighborhood and Canal Walk.
