Lambetz Quarter
Würselen-Broichweiden

Project description

Since 2016, the former factory site of the Aachen printen and chocolate factory Henry Lambertz at the Würselen-Broichweiden location has lain fallow. On the basis of a restricted competition organized by the „Ministerium für Heimat, Kommunales, Bau und Gleichstellung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen“, the approx. 4-hectare industrial site is to be redeveloped in the coming years into a sustainable residential location.

The aim of the procedure was to find exemplary solutions for developing industrial wastelands into sustainable and future-oriented residential quarters - also and in particular for districts of medium-sized centers. The use of wood as a sustainable building material was a central focus of the project.

The PLAN FORWARD concept

References from the environment form the basis of the design idea of PLAN FORWARD. A green axis opening into the landscape creates the connection between the central areas and the existing bicycle and pedestrian path leading out into the landscape. This axis forms the car-free backbone of the quarter. Parallel to this, a development axis (play street) is created in the south, which ensures necessary routes such as fetching/bringing traffic to the daycare center or unloading for the buildings.

A total of approximately 300 apartments have been designed in the Lambertz Quarter, which can offer a wide variety of housing types. The urban structure is based on similarly sized building plots, each of which is grouped around the two neighborhood squares, of which the larger square located in the western area represents a "center" for the entire area. There is the daycare center, whose front area is marked by the large tree worth preserving. To the west and east of the square are café, co-working and community spaces such as hobby rooms.

Different usage spaces such as play, sports and gardening accentuate a total of three different open space hierarchies and create a basic structure that creates identity. All in all, a green quarter is created that has a high degree of unsealing and offers different recreational spaces.

The building plots can be built on flexibly and form lively, mixed neighborhoods through the joint arrangement of multi-story apartment buildings, point houses and single-family homes. If required, further building areas can be flexibly developed in the future and accessed via the area.

As a CO²-neutral and, above all, regionally very readily available building material, wood plays an essential role in the PLAN FORWARD design. The central aspect of sustainability is the lasting value with low maintenance costs. Due to their structure, the buildings can be efficiently erected in wood hybrid construction.

In addition to the use of sustainable, durable, energy-saving and ecological building materials, an active greening concept, minimal sealing of surfaces and sufficiently dimensioned retention areas also play an essential role. The use of a PV system geared to the building's own needs as well as the greening of the roofs as a bee meadow, for example, is a natural part of PLAN FORWARD's design for the Lambertz Quarter, along with wood as a deliberately visible building material.