The redesign of the entrance area to the community center was a major challenge. Despite years of experience in designing outdoor areas, it was difficult to redesign the steep “concrete arena”, which was no longer safe to use. In the following project presentation, the besgen landscape architecture firm explains how it nevertheless succeeded in transforming this space into an inviting area.
The redesign of the entrance area to the community center was a major challenge. Despite years of experience in designing outdoor areas, it was difficult to redesign the steep “concrete arena”, which was no longer safe to use. In the following project presentation, the besgen landscape architecture firm explains how it nevertheless succeeded in transforming this space into an inviting area.
The starting point was the redesign of the steep, no longer safe to use concrete arena that leads to the “Sonderbar” children’s and youth club in the community center. The aim was to create a friendly and colorful entrance situation that invites people to the “Sonderbar”. A seating arena is intended to invite young people and confirmands to linger, chill out and celebrate, while also appealing to everyone who passes by. As part of the design, the extended outdoor area was also integrated into the design to create a harmonious overall look for the community garden and make access to the community center more inviting. The greywacke rock seating arena forms a transition and acts as a “front garden bed backdrop” to the community center, which changes over the course of the seasons. Strictly trimmed hedge bands serve as “green hedge railings” and protect the footpath from the flowerbeds. The steps are atmospherically set off by bollard lights in the clusters of shrubs and grasses, while recesses in the path decking serve as small seating niches. Herbaceous perennials were planted at the sides of the flowerbeds to turn the steps into a “scented staircase”.
A connecting element between the front and rear garden areas is the “community meadow”. At the rear is the “community terrace”, which adjoins the worship hall and is slightly higher, like a small bastion. This previously little-used terrace has now been transformed into an extended worship and open space that is used for congregational activities, open-air services, baptisms, meetings and festivities. The terrace is structured by intersecting strips of light-colored slabs and protected from noise and views from the main road by a hedge. Beds of ground cover and vertical grasses reinforce the effect of a sheltered, framed space. Here too, bollard lights in the beds provide atmospheric lighting accents, especially in the evening and in winter.
The garden was designed to be climate-friendly, with robust, low-maintenance plants that can withstand drought, urban climates and cold. The plants are also insect and bee-friendly. The plant beds consist mainly of ground covers, ornamental perennials, grasses and specimen plants that change depending on the season. Especially in summer, white hydrangeas and solitary grasses with taut stems add to the atmosphere.
The selection of plants in the community garden includes a variety of robust and climate-resistant plants. Strictly pruned hedges such as hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) and Schmidt’s alpine currant (Ribes alpinum Schmidt) form a structured framework. Flowering plants such as the panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata Limelight), the autumn anemone (Anemone japonica ‘Honorine Jobert’) and the white summer wood aster (Aster divaricatus Tradescant) provide seasonal color accents. Ground cover plants such as the ground cover rose Noatraum and the ornamental lady’s mantle (Alchemilla epipsila) fill the garden with vibrant greenery. The candle knotweed (Bistorta amplexicaulisLisan) and the cranesbill (Geranium wallichianum Azure Rush) complete the floral variety. Other plants such as steppe sage (Salvia nemorosa Caradonna), coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii Goldsturm), mountain mint (Calamintha nepeta Triumphator) and Patagonian verbena (Verbena bonariensis) not only provide aesthetic accents, but also attract insects. The catmint (Nepeta x faassenii) and various grasses, such as the autumn head grass (Sesleria autumnalis) and the garden riding grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora Karl Foerster`), round off the plant selection and ensure a dynamic garden appearance all year round.
“Every garden is the result of an individual idea,” says Noël Besgen (landscape architect AKNW) – creative idea finder and design-competent planner for all aspects of garden and open space architecture. The starting point is the location, the garden, the square, the street, the park – and people.
The office “besgen Landschaftsarchitektur” was founded in 2008 with a focus on open space and object planning of private gardens. We create innovative, pragmatic, individual and low-maintenance concepts for feasible planning and design proposals for urban garden and open space culture that meet the special requirements of contemporary living and working environments. The designs stand for functionality, timelessness, formal restraint and clear reduction to simplicity. Competent and complete project support from the first sketch to the realized object.
Climate-resilient, sustainable and aesthetic redesign and redesign of the community center’s outdoor facilities as the seasons change. “And in the middle of the paradise garden, the werewolf chills in the sea of flowers,” commented the church community on the opening of the outdoor facilities.
Realization: 2021-2022
Client: Evangelical parish of Sankt Augustin & Niederpleis and Mülldorf
Design + planning: besgen landscape architecture & Noël Besgen I landscape architect AKNW
Our September issue is all about urban oases. Find more exciting projects here.
