
Marl (DE)

Category Urban - landscape - architectural
Location Auguste Victoria Colliery Shaft 3/7
Population c. 86,000 inhab.
Strategic site Auguste Victoria 3/7 and surroundings - Project site 90 ha: A 44.8 ha / B 15.0 ha / C 17.8 ha / D 11.8 ha
Site proposed by RAG Montan Immobilien GmbH
Owner(s) of the site RAG AG
Commision after competition When indicated, outline urban and landscape plan
Team representative professional of urban design - architect - landscape architect
More info
How can the site contribute to the adaptable city?
The Auguste Victoria Colliery Shaft 3/7 in Marl-Hamm lies on the northern fringe of the Ruhr District. With about 3000 employees and an annual production of almost three million tonnes of high-quality anthracite coal with an underground tunnel system of 99 km, it is currently still in operation, but scheduled for closure in 2015. The term “Adaptable City” is a key concept for urban development of the future and must be interpreted site-specifically at each location. Adaptation to fundamental changes in terms of climate protection, energy efficiency, demographic development, new research tasks, modified design specifications and meaningful flexibility in re- and new construction, etc. calls for completely new approaches.
City strategy
The Auguste Victoria site must be considered in the wider context of conflicting uses, i.e. the proximity of the Chemical Park situated to the west, the mine heaps and river port to the north as well as the smallscale residential development to the east. At the same time a development concept is to be prepared for the mine site itself that highlights the specific character of the site, strengthens existing potential and sets it in relation to the surrounding area. The objective is to prepare a multitude of ideas at an early stage – some of them by all means unconventional – to be put up for discussion when the planning process gets under way in the year of closure 2015.
Site definition
The broader surroundings of the Auguste Victoria Colliery are characterised by Marl Chemical Park, the coal port (originally for supplying BASF) on the Wesel-Dattel Canal, two large mine heaps, residential neighbourhoods and the autobahn. Typical of Münsterland, the nearby countryside consists of flat meadow and pasture landscape, interrupted by hedges and copses. The Auguste Victoria Colliery started operation in 1905 with Shaft 1. The area has a scatter of buildings from a number of decades that give the site its character. Solely the so called Kohlenmischhalle (coal merging hall) in the centre of the site is worth preserving – as scientific depot for heavy mining machines and for research purposes.
Future of the site in relation to the site family and to Adaptability
The colliery is the region’s second largest employer and recognised in particular as an important apprenticing company and economic power in the surrounding region. Marl Town Council and RAG have agreed on a new use for Auguste Victoria colliery 3/7 by business and industry., to compensate for the loss of jobs after the closure of the mine. The Chemical Park in the immediate proximity is one of the largest employers in the region. The future use of the mining area after the closure must in no case imply any restriction for the Chemical Park. Thus an industrial or commercial use must be prioritised. The well connected area (port, railway, autobahn) provides good conditions for a development as an industrial estate. The site offers an opportunity to develop ideas as to how industry and commerce might look in accordance with the parameters of sustainability, conservation of resources, energy efficiency and flexibility as well as fast adaptability to new uses. Today the above-named quality requirements are the universal features of modern planning in the residential, office and real estate sector as defined by consensus, but have hitherto not been applied to newer commercial and industrial areas. The location invites open thinking and represents a creative challenge. Under the chosen approach, the question will be how new commercial and industrial uses that cannot presently be determined in detail, may look in future. What are the creative, functional and programmatic demands on an industrial site in the 21st century?
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