Magnum Areal Osnabrück: Living space instead of industry

Georgsmarienhütte Holding GmbH (GMH Group) launched a competition as part of the upcoming transformation of a 15.5-hectare steelworks site in Osnabrück. GREENBOX Landscape Architects and ASTOC Architects and Planners came out on top from a total of seven participants. The interdisciplinary team of planners from the fields of landscape architecture and urban planning impressed with an overall concept for an urban living and working quarter.

After the IAG Magnum GmbH production facility was shut down in 2016, the GMH Group from neighboring Georgsmarienhütte now wants to push ahead with the sustainable development of the site. In order to find a viable concept, they launched a cooperative urban and open space planning competition in close cooperation with the city of Osnabrück. Jury chairman Prof. Jörg Aldinger explained the unanimous selection of the winning design by ASTOC and GREENBOX as follows: The decisive factors were above all the high urban planning quality, the ecologically and socially sustainable concept, the ideas for future-proof energy supply and mobility as well as the successful networking with the Schinkel district and the adjacent Hasepark.

A clear spatial structure enables the coexistence of living, leisure and culture as well as production, trade and commerce. The identity-forming center holds the urban quarter together and literally forms the basic framework for the coexistence of living and working. The existing supporting structures of the industrial hall are to be integrated into the park and experienced in three dimensions. From cultural and event spaces to a suspended sports field, laboratories, training rooms and test areas, the hall roof offers a wide range of possibilities.

The various building uses are oriented around the central “hall park”. Due to the railway tracks to the south, buildings for production, trade and offices form a kind of noise buffer along the southern boundary of the site. As there is further industry to the west of the Magnum site in the form of a DHL packing station, uses such as manufacturing, a mobility hub and crafts are planned next to this. In contrast, more classic residential typologies can be found in the quieter, more natural locations, such as along the Klöckner Hase in the north.

The Hase green corridor coming from the east forms a cold air corridor that favors the urban climate in the district. In order to continue this blue-green infrastructure within the area, the design features a high proportion of greenery. This enables rainwater management in the spirit of the sponge city. In addition to water infiltration, the energy supply is also generated directly in the Magnum area. During the development of the quarter, special attention will also be paid to the resource-conserving use of building materials. For example, the existing halls are to be used sensibly in the various construction phases and materials from unavoidable demolition are to be reused.

With a total of over 200,000 square meters of floor space for residential, office and commercial use, the transformation of the Magnum Areal is such a large-scale project that future users are to be involved in its implementation. Once the development planning process has been completed by mid-2025, the plan is to gradually implement the project together with medium-sized companies, regional housing associations and other investors.

The GREENBOX and ASTOC concept not only provides a basic framework that enables the urban symbiosis of living and production. By preserving old supporting structures, the planners have also literally created a framework that is reminiscent of the former industrial site and has an identity-forming effect. It makes the reuse of old building structures tangible and becomes a symbol of sustainable urban planning.

A competition was also held and decided on the urban quarter at the main goods station in Braunschweig. Read all about it here.