New urban district centre “under glass”
(North-Rhine Westphalia)
Photography: Robert Schmell, BBSR im BBR
With the closure of the “Mont Cenis” pit in 1978, the district of Sodingen in Herne (pop. 171.000) lost its functional and urban centre. The demolition of the pit facility created 25 ha of fallow land. At the end of the 1980s, the NRW Ministry of the Interior decided to establish a second further education academy in Herne. This provided the starting point for the “Mont-Cenis” project, which was initiated in 1990 as part of the international architectural exhibition “IBA Emscher Park”.
Photography: Robert Schmell, BBSR im BBR
A 1991 competition resulted in an urban development design which included a 172 x 172 m and 15 m high wood and glass solitaire. The structure is connected to the district via a broad stairway arrangement flanked by retail shops. A district park, a densely populated residential area and a nursery school complete the development project. The „Development Company Mont-Cenis“ realized the entire project, starting in 1994.
The higher education buildings, several municipal facilities and a public urban space are grouped within the outsize glass house. The glass shell, which is supported by roughly planed spruce timbe r and timber framing jambs and girders, creates a weather-sheltered space with a mild climate, the so-called “micro-climatic envelope”. This meant that all the buildings situated underneath the roof could be constructed as simple steel or wood frame structures. The front area accommodates the buildings of a citizens’ centre featuring a district town hall, a library and an assembly hall. These uses, in particular, link the new building to the district. Next follow catering establishments, a casino and the academy’s hotel, conference and administration buildings. The entire interior space is provided with natural light.
Integrated in the roof is the solar power station, a 10.000 m² photovoltaic facility, which simultaneously serves as a sunscreen. Approximately 550.000 kWh of the system’s total output of 750.000 kWh can be fed into the grid. The rest covers the energy park’s own demand.
The Herne department of works has built a pit gas engine-based co-generator and a battery tank on the adjoining plot. The engine-based co-generator uses the energy of the pit gas escaping from the mineshafts to generate electricity and short-distance district heating for the academy and residential buildings. The battery tank with an energy content of 1,2 MWh facilitates the buffering of solar electricity and its supply to the grid at times of high consumption. The facility has been in operation very profitably since 1997.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1978 | Closure of the “Mount-Cenis” pit |
| 1990 | Design seminar at the architectural exhibition “IBA Emscher Park” |
| 1991 | Urban design competition and start of realization studies |
| 1994 | Foundation of the development company “Entwicklungsgesellschaft Mont-Cenis" (EMC)1997 | Construction start, laying of the foundation stone for the academy |
| 1997 | The pit gas engine-based co-generator and the battery tank are put into operation |
| 1999 | Opening of the academy and inauguration of the district town hall |
| 2000 | Model project of EXPO 2000 Hannover |
Photography: Robert Schmell, BBSR im BBR
Photography: Robert Schmell, BBSR im BBR
Photography: Robert Schmell, BBSR im BBR
The generous, weather-sheltered urban space created under the microclimatic envelope furnishes the district with a new centre by providing for public uses and re-interpreting the site of the old centre of local life. In doing so, the project successfully integrated a large-scale photovoltaic system which, in combination with a battery tank, brings ecological as well as economical advantages.
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 44627 - town: Herne - street: Mont-Cenis-Platz 1.
Record inserted on 01.06.2003 by Lehrstuhl für Planungstheorie und Stadtplanung, RWTH Aachen and updated by theFederal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) within the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR).
Last update: 02.03.2010
