Kesselstrasse Peninsula, DE-Düsseldorf
A creative, high-quality, and sustainable urban development concept is to be developed for the Kesselstrasse Peninsula, one that will set the course for a new harbor district in Düsseldorf. The planning area of the Kesselstrasse Peninsula, a highly attractive waterfront location, is situated next to industrial port facilities and in the immediate vicinity of the centrally located Medienhafen. The desired new identity of the development structure will emerge through the consolidation of existing themes, typologies, and distinctive features.
Compact building volumes create a dense, urban structure, while inviting pedestrian promenades along the pier edges and a large green space serving as a park provide ample open space and expansive views. Parallel to the pier edge running from north to south, rectangular building lots oriented perpendicular to Kesselstrasse are arranged in a linear fashion. Between these lots, “hard” infrastructure and access areas alternate with “soft” green spaces. Each lot has a “DNA” that defines the framework conditions for footprint, building height, number of stories, and floor area ratio. This approach allows for a sufficient degree of control at the urban planning level regarding visual relationships, building heights, and ground-floor design, while simultaneously providing considerable freedom in the arrangement of uses and building design.
The building volumes surrounding the open space of Harbor Basin B and along the northern section of the harbor pier serve as landmarks visible from afar. The maximum height here is to be 81 meters. In place of the “Pier One” project at the tip of the pier — which has not yet been realized, is heavily commercially oriented, and appears challenging from an urban planning perspective in terms of height and positioning — a striking, identity-defining structure in the form of a ring is proposed.By highlighting the “empty center” — which can be filled with various uses (boat traffic, a swimming beach, etc.) — this structure emphasizes the public nature of the site and offers exciting views of the different harbor basins. The spacious park, which largely preserves the existing green spaces, connects the two harbor basins, A and B. The public plaza area at the end of Harbor Basin B will serve as a key interface with the city. It serves as an arrival and transfer point for passengers on hotel ships and as the central plaza of the new development.
