32 - Drees & Sommer

REDEVELOPMENT OF A DISUSED INDUSTRIAL SITE
Neighbourhood development: Bringing
people and nature back into town
Drees & Sommer is successfully supporting the client with the PHOENIX See (Lake PHOENIX)
project in Dortmund, which involves the redevelopment of a former coal mine site. Efficient
organization and preparation for one of Europe’s largest earth-moving projects is ensuring
smooth progress, and an architectural fair has offered a diverse range of architectural styles.
The fact that “times, they are a-changing”
has always been evident between the
Rhine, Lippe and Ruhr rivers, as industrial
change has molded life in the region
for centuries. This dynamic is particularly
apparent in the south of Dortmund,
where one of Europe‘s largest urban
development projects is changing the
face of the city. For 150 years and over
many generations, the character of the
district of Hörde was determined by
heavy industry: In the mid-19th century,
production and processing of steel
began on the so-called Phoenix site.
It was the decline of Germany‘s coal
and steel industries in the 1970s that
brought this to an end. The plant was
closed in 2001 followed by the dismantling
of equipment and a partial
sale to China.
Dortmund seizes the opportunity
The City of Dortmund seized the opportunity
by purchasing the site shortly
before the turn of the century: The 100hectare
disused site was bought back for
the people. This gave new impetus to the
idea of living and working in one place,
a visionary concept that seemed to have
been long lost. The inspiration generated
by this idea can be seen in nearly every
corner of the district.
An artificial 25-hectare lake with a
depth of up to four meters and several
islands is being created on the site of
the former Hermannshütte steel plant.
The lake will be surrounded by 42
hectares of residential and commercial
properties, including some 900 homes
for approximately 2,500 people.
This will be supplemented by extensive
parklands totaling about 11 hectares with
the renatured Emscher River and Hörder
Stream taking up about 13 hectares.
The new living and working area will one
day become part of the Emscher Landscape
Park, and is an example of the
‘green’ structural change taking place in
the region formerly dominated by heavy
industry.
Coordination of the planning and
approval processes
Clearly the preparation and execution
of such a fundamental change of use
for an entire district is a mammoth task.
Initially, it posed substantial problems
for those responsible, namely the
PHOENIX See Entwicklungsgesellschaft
mbH and the Emscher River Association.
A 25-hectare lake and extensive parklands will shape the future of the former PHOENIX West coal mine site
This is where the Drees & Sommer
infrastructure specialists came into the
picture in November 2005. The expert
team helped the principals to achieve
their goals and to master the associated
organizational challenges. Since then –
as project controller – the company has
been coordinating the activities of two
principals, numerous authorities, funding
institutions, planners, consultants, and
numerous contractors, including about
40 engineering firms and consultants.
The construction-related tasks were
almost as challenging. Following dismantling,
demolition, remediation and
safety work, the experts managed all
foundation and hydraulic engineering
tasks. At the same time, civil engineering
works such as a weir system and bridges,
and building construction projects –
including a phosphate elimination
plant to minimize the nutrient content
of the waters – had to be undertaken.
Another task was the construction of
the complete infrastructure with roads,
paths, squares and parklands.
Site logistics for a lake larger than
Hamburg’s Inner Alster
Earthworks for the lake – which will
one day be larger than Hamburg’s Inner
Alster – resulted in huge quantities of
excavated material: Over a million cubic
meters of soil had to be transported to
the correct location with over 300,000
dump-truck trips. To do this, the
Drees & Sommer expert team established
the organizational parameters from
the very beginning and undertook
“Drees & Sommer provided us
with outstanding support.”
Ursula Klischan, Managing Director of
PHOENIX See Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH
at EXPO Real 2010
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