New office complex on the B9 Bad Godesberg gets a "Green Canyon"
Friesdorf · A modern complex is to be built between Dreizehnmorgenweg and Godesberger Allee, providing around 17,500 square metres of office space. The investor wants to submit a building application before the end of the year.
It is no longer a secret that Godesberger Allee is popular for office space of all kinds. In recent years, several modern office complexes have been built there, others are under construction or in planning. Last week, the city council gave the go-ahead for another project. It is called "Green Canyon" and is being developed by Landmarken Bonn Green Canyon GmbH from Aachen. In 2017, the company had bought the approximately 7100 square metre site between Dreizehnmorgenweg and Godesberger Allee (opposite the Maritim Hotel) and announced the architectural competition "Office Complex in the Federal Quarter". The winner was the Cologne office "caspar.schmitzmorkramer". The architectural firm is also responsible for the design of "Jackie K." on Kennedyallee in Plittersdorf, which, as reported, is to be built on the Postbank site.
Two buildings in need of renovation are to be demolished for the project.
The Bad Godesberg district council (BV) and the planning committee had initiated the amendment of the development plan in March 2018. The existing three- to eight-storey office buildings from the 1960s, with their interlocking building structure and partially open underground car park floors, were no longer up to date, according to the administration in its draft resolution at the time. There was also a great need for renovation. With a view to the framework planning for the Federal Quarter, the city defined the area as an area where it saw a need , but also a potential for change.
About four years later, the Bonn City Council has now adopted the corresponding development plan for Dreizehnmorgenweg. "Due to the continuing high demand for attractive office locations in Bonn, the owner is planning two separate new structures - a seven-storey solitaire on Godesberger Allee and a five-storey atrium building on Dreizehnmorgenweg," the City of Bonn said in a statement. Both structures will be connected with a bridge at the level of the second and third floors. A total of around 17,500 square metres of office space is to be created. The project owes its name to a diagonally running path between the two triangular buildings with their green facades, which will connect Godesberger Allee and Dreizehnmorgenweg. Cars and bicycles will be parked in a three-storey underground garage.
"A lot of space will be created for greenery"
A new public square is to be created through the "canyon". Bonn's city planning commissioner Helmut Wiesner praised "this innovative office typology and architecture, which is unique in Bonn so far", Landmarken AG reported in a 2018 statement, quoting Wiesner as saying that the houses are an "excellent indicator of the continuous transformation of the Bundesviertel." "The architecture promotes dialogue with many meeting points and thus creates a place of encounter. A lot of space for greenery is created," the project description says.
In Stuttgart, the Cologne office is planning the "Cannion - NeckarPark" project, an ensemble of buildings that also has green facades and creates artificial ravines through the construction method. However, this area is about 27,372 square metres in size and is to house offices, a hotel, fitness facilities and gastronomy.
Before the council made its decision on 9 June, the Bad Godesberg district council held a hearing on the matter the day before. The members of the BV voted with a majority in favour of the proposal. SPD, Bürger Bund Bonn, AFD and the Left Party voted against, the FDP abstained. During the discussion, criticism was voiced about the "massiveness" of the construction and the fact that the project did not take into account the importance of housing construction in Bonn. "We had once said that the area would also be suitable for housing," said Marcel Schmitt of Bürger Bund Bonn.
Building application to be submitted this year
Construction will probably not start this year; Landmarken AG already said in 2018 that it would not build before 2022. Rita Straßer, project manager of "Green Canyon", told the GA on Monday that they would like to submit the corresponding building application this year. She said she could not say more yet because the project was still in the early stages.
Just a stone's throw away from the "Green Canyon", as reported, is another new building project on Godesberger Allee, the "Gooneforty", which is to create around 6000 square metres of office space. The developer on the former site of the Ministry for Inner-German Relations is the Nordrheinische Ärzteversorgung from Düsseldorf. On the former Haribo site between Friesdorfer Straße, Weißenburgstraße and Truchseßstraße, the "Kottentor" will not only provide housing, a new police station, a day-care centre and retail, but also an office complex with a size of 3678 square metres.
Original text: Maximilian Mühlens
Translation: Mareike Graepel
