- Project
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Mixed-use conversion of Harbour District, Kassel, Germany
- Year
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2025
- Programme
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Social, affordable and age-inclusive Housing, Retail, Hotel, Library, Kindergarten, District Garage
- Site Area
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11ha
- Gross Floor Area
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77.700 m2
- Client
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City of Kassel, Germany
- Commission
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Preselected Urban Planning Competition
- Description
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The transformation of the harbour area in Kassel reimagines a former industrial waterfront as a vibrant urban district between city, river and landscape. Located along the Fulda, the project converts the underused harbour site into a mixed neighbourhood combining housing, workplaces and public waterfront spaces. The starting point of the design is the preservation and reinterpretation of the site’s industrial heritage, particularly the historic silo and harbour buildings that define the character of the area. These existing structures are carefully integrated into a new urban framework that combines contemporary residential buildings with a network of public spaces and green landscapes.
The urban structure is organised around a sequence of public squares, courtyards and waterfront promenades that connect the district to surrounding neighbourhoods and the river landscape. Housing typologies ranging from courtyard blocks and townhouses to compact urban villas create a diverse and socially mixed residential environment. A central mobility hub, local services and cultural programmes within the reused harbour buildings activate the district throughout the day. Landscape spaces including a river park, harbour basin promenade and neighbourhood park form the ecological backbone of the project and support climate-resilient urban development. In this way, the former harbour site evolves into a sustainable waterfront neighbourhood that combines industrial memory, urban living and public life within a coherent spatial identity.
- Team A KIND OF SPACE
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Christoph Felger, Neeraj Chatterji, Omar Elfadaly
- Collaborators
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Alessandro Iannello, Clément Ringot, Jacob Fochi, Ken Spangberg, BIOS ATELIER, Brussels, Belgium (Landscape Architecture)
Dogan Yurdakul, Gesellschaft für Planung, Berlin, Germany (Urban Planning Consultant)
Amelie Van de Bunt, Sophie Stigliano, Urban Standards, Munich, Germany (Mobility Consultant)
Alexander Stumpf, University Kassel, Germany (Theory and History Consultant)
