Credits

Client: Stadt Schwäbisch Gmünd / Included in IBA’27 Stuttgart
Location: Stadtquartier Hardt in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
Plot Area: 4,5 Ha
Program: New mixed-use quartier including a mobility hub. Urban design and landscape
Competition: 1st Prize Invited Competition (Mehrfachbeauftragung) included in the IBA’27 Network
Architecture: Gutiérrez-delaFuente + UTA
Landscape: Gutiérrez-delaFuente + UTA

A REUSE-URBANISM TO CREATE A NEW MIXED-USE NEIGHBOURHOOD

● A Neighborhood in Transition: the ‘Hardt’ district in Schwäbisch Gmünd is located on a hill above the city center. The southern part was developed in the 1950s. Here, mainly refugees after the Second World War found a new home. The northern part was a ‘Housing Area’ for the US forces until 1991. In addition, ‘Hardt’ is a university and school location as well as a municipal building yard. In the center of the district development, innovative construction projects with IBA qualities could emerge in the coming years, enriching the IBA’27 network through exchange with projects in the Stuttgart region.
● An open-process of reuse-urbanism: a new quartier is to be built in the near future on the building yard between Hardt and the Schwäbisch Gmünd University in a former barracks site -recently with an industrial use-: the new Bildungsquartier Hardt. The conversion of the existing buildings is one of the main issues of the new neighbourhood. Instead of demolishing, the proposal is fostering a pioneering spirit and encouraging appropriation. It will be more than a residential area: a mixed-use quartier guided by an open-end process of reusing.
● A regenerative urban design focused on the already-there: the project is part of the IBA’27 Stuttgart network. A good summary was written by the jury and the IBA’27 competition report as follows: “UTA and GdlF propose a car-free educational quarter with a striking boulevard between the university and Europaplatz. The structure combines open block edges with green courtyards for productive, creative and social uses. Temporary programmes and small-scale parcelling enable gradual development. Existing workshop buildings, greenhouses and old trees of the building yard will be preserved and included. Pioneering uses are to be created here that will enliven the quarter from the very beginning and promote community and cultural offerings. The quartier promotes social mix: studio apartments, cluster living, townhouses and micro-apartments offer a variety of ways of life. A mobility hub and decentralised stations complement the concept.

The focus is on regenerative urban development: unsealing, ecological corridors and the sponge city principle strengthen climate resilience and biodiversity. The jury was impressed by the robust, small-scale structure and the precise handling of the existing buildings”.