Heilbronn riverside site opened up for visitors and new residents

The TenderStream service has been established for over a decade, and the database team are always interested to see the results of long-term projects circulated to our members. A recent example is the site of the 173-day German Federal Garden Show, which ended this October after attracting around 2.3 million visitors. Ten years ago, when the city of Heilbronn was selected to host the event, a long-standing plan was put into action to transform the former riverside industrial site into an attractive open space.  The organisers described the show as “an engine of urban development”, with the project standing as an enduring example of how a temporary event can act as a significant catalyst for regeneration.

An open competition in 2010 called for designs to upgrade the former railway-owned site. This followed a 2008 request for a masterplan covering 100 ha of development in the city. The creators of the masterplan, Steidle Architekten, identified opportunities to create an urban canal harbour and a landscaped lake, together with a landmark for the new district in the form of a bridge near the main railway station. Competition winners SINAI Gesellschaft von Landschaftsarchitekten mbH united the various elements of the fragmented riverside area by designing a connected series of open spaces, including landscaped gardens, urban shore parks, and a 1 km nature experience walk along the riverbank.

Since the ground-breaking ceremony on 3rd November 2013, construction machinery has moved 400,000 cubic metres of earth, and uncovered historic relics such as quay walls, shipwrecks and railway wagons. The first trees, meadows and shrubs were planted, while built elements including pedestrian and cycle paths, playgrounds and sports facilities provided leisure opportunities for the 500 residents who moved into the first neighbourhood apartment blocks.  The district will continue to grow to house 3500 people, with the entire project due to complete in 2040.

Lucy Nordberg
TenderStream Head of Research

These tenders were first published by TenderStream on 19.11.2008 here and on 28.07.2010 here

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