Quartier Pankower Tor in Berlin – competition decided

At the end of a cooperative process, a winner has now been chosen. The winning team’s design has changed thanks to many suggestions from Berlin residents. It will now determine the future of Pankower Tor in Berlin. Based on its ideas, a new piece of the city with 2,000 apartments will soon be built there.

In the middle of Berlin, between the Pankow S-Bahn and U-Bahn station and Prenzlauer Promenade, a new urban quarter is set to grow. Where trains used to shunt, people will soon be living and working. Around 2,000 apartments are to be built here. This was decided by the Berlin Senate back in spring 2018. The best design for the site was then developed in a multi-stage workshop process. The winners of this process have now been announced. The new Pankower Tor district is being planned according to the designs of a team consisting of Nöfer Architekten, Christoph Kohl Stadtplaner und Architekten, Fugmann Janotta Landschaftsarchitekten, Stadt+Verkehr Ingenieurbüro Terfort and BuroHappold.

A new neighborhood can grow on the site of the former marshalling yard in Pankow. This decision was made jointly by the district of Pankow, the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing and Krieger Handel SE as the investor. The beginning of the new Pankower Tor was thus already born in 2018. The area to be built on is not only located directly at the Pankow S-Bahn and U-Bahn station, but also extends along the railroad line. In total, it stretches from Mühlenstraße in the west to the Pankow-Heinersdorf S-Bahn station and Prenzlauer Promenade in the east. A master plan now forms the basis for the design of the old marshalling yard. Its development is characterized by several phases of public participation. In the first phase, general expectations and suggestions for the development of the district were collected. These were incorporated into the subsequent Pankower Tor urban planning and architectural workshop process.

Workshop process

The workshop process for Pankower Tor began in December last year. Six planning teams took part in this process. They are competing to develop urban planning designs for the site of the old marshalling yard. The terms of reference for the workshop already contained binding specifications for the uses. These in turn were based on the numerous wishes submitted by the citizens. The teams presented their ideas in an initial interim colloquium. At the same time, a website published the designs for the Pankower Tor. This gave interested citizens the opportunity to make comments and suggestions.

With this feedback and the jury’s suggestions, the teams entered the second phase of the workshop process. In this phase, they further developed their designs and elaborated on individual areas. In the end, the architectural firm Nöfer, together with Christoph Kohl Stadtplaner und Architekten and Fugmann Janotta Landschaftsarchitekten, won the race for the best urban planning solution for the Pankower Tor. This team’s design impressed the jury with its particularly robust urban planning framework.

The concept for the Pankower Tor district envisages urbanity growing through diversity along the railroad line in Pankow. The winning team’s design shows a variety of uses as well as different forms of housing. Both are combined to create the highest urban planning quality; both are designed to be people-friendly. The public space of the new quarter is brought to life by three newly designed squares. The winning team’s concept also includes three new parks. The heart of the new Pankower Tor district is a town square at the train station. It will become the central meeting point and link between two previously separate parts of Pankow. In addition, the so-called Panke Trail will create new connections. It thus spans the new town square and creates a bicycle connection between east and west. The town square at the station is also the site of an urban and architectural highlight. A tall solitary building, visibly towering above the other buildings, marks the town square spatially.

Small-scale neighborhood structure

In the adjoining areas of the new Pankower Tor district to the east, a smaller-scale structure dominates. Its individual components are connected by the Panke Trail in the north and the new Pankower Promenade. While the promenade runs through the middle of the quarter, Granitzstrasse creates a connection at the southern edge of the area. In addition, new connections and crossings are being created in a north-south direction. On the one hand, the railroad embankment bordering the quarter can be crossed via an underpass. Secondly, a new bridge overcomes the previous barrier of the railroad. The urban and green spaces of the new Pankower Tor district are not only designed for future residents. They also offer all residents of the surrounding neighborhoods new open and recreational spaces.

According to the jury, the winning team’s design for the Pankower Tor underwent a special metamorphosis during the course of the process. In the end, it impressed with its particularly robust urban planning framework. The Senate Administration also stated that the design was a gain for the whole of Berlin. The winning team has succeeded in creating its own identity and a high-quality residential and living atmosphere. The urban planning design marks the start of the transformation of the former marshalling yard into a new urban quarter. New life will soon be able to move into the area, which has been derelict for many years. And many Berliners will soon be able to find a new home here. However, the work is not yet complete with the selection of the winning design. Now it’s time for the finishing touches.

The architects from CKSA together with landscape architects Fugmann Janotta not only impressed in Berlin, but also recently in Duisburg. There they won first prize in the competition “Stadtquartier am alten Güterbahnhof”.