Team Blauraum, Karres en Brands and Green Box have won first prize in the competition for the development of a 22ha former freight yard area, Lokviertel, in Osnabrück, Germany. Our proposal The Green Loop transforms the disconnected area into a new sustainable neighborhood of the future, connecting it on multiple levels with the rest of the city. 

In a two-day jury deliberation, the design won the first prize because of "the basic urban planning concept that appears flexible and abundant while at the same time showing in detail a vision of how people can live and work together in an urban environment in the future" said jury president Christoph Ingenhoven from Düsseldorf.

Jury member and urban planner Frank Otte also sees great opportunities for urban development in the winning design: "The Lok district will not be cut off and become an island, rather, we are connecting it to the city center and use the central location of Central Station in a completely new way." In ecological terms, the design aims for climate neutrality and clearly takes into account the requirements of climate change "for a robust and resilient design." 

 

 

Lok-Viertel’s vicinity to Osnabrück’s Central Station makes it potentially one of the most important gateways to the city. Due to its past use, the transformation area has traditionally been an isolated area. Numerous visible and invisible boundaries, from train tracks, roads, water bodies, and earth layers made the area appear as a foreign area within the urban fabric. Our priority was to break down these boundaries and integrate the area into the urban fabric while preserving the identity of the site.

We look forward to the start in Osnabrück and to continuing our cooperation with all parties.

 

Client: Lok-Viertel-OS GmbH

I.c.w. Blauraum & Green Box