Birsfelder Mitte | Weyell Zipse

Invited urban study, Gemeinde Birsfelden, 2017
Weyell Zipse Architekten with Christian Salewski & Simon Kretz Architekten and Atelier Loidl Landschaftsarchitekten

With the tall building on the square, the concentration of public-oriented uses and the upgrading of the important urban relationship between Birs and the Rhine, Birsfelden will have a new center that will shape the cityscape and will be characterized by suitability for everyday use, clear volumetric settings and a strengthening of the contrast between the urban main street and the green Birsstegweg.
The most important existing buildings will be retained and reused. This promotes a rich relationship between the old and the new and makes it easier for them to grow together. A sequence of open spaces also acts as a link.

Birsfelden has a heterogeneous building structure. While the buildings along the street define the main road as a thoroughfare, the townscape to the rear is primarily characterized by open development with a strong greening effect, which finds a striking conclusion on the banks of the Rhine with the clearly defined high-rise buildings.
The new town square is precisely framed by the existing peripheral buildings and a new tall building, but not closed off, so that the spatial relationships in the depths are maintained and supported. While a quiet residential courtyard adjoins to the west, the clearly defined urban connection to the Rhine can be accessed to the east.
Events, markets, concerts and much more can take place on the town square. In everyday life, it radiates a calm serenity, the naturalness of which is reinforced by the preservation of the large old trees. The staggered height and depth of the building on the square allows for a variety of access situations: the wholesale distributor in the basement is accessed from the main street, the municipal administration is located at the funnel-shaped entrance to the extended Birsstegweg, while the apartments can be reached from the quiet residential courtyard.