Behind the fencing, there is already a mix of different industries and research facilities, featuring a wide range of organisations operating in different fields. This is an ideal starting point from which to open up and develop a fully-fledged neighbourhood with all of the infrastructure required for work, housing and everyday urban life in the 21st century.
Urban Planning.
The basis for the development of the new Rosental Mitte district is set out in an urban development plan. This plan is based on five principles:
Transform the industrial site into a public urban neighbourhood.
Create a place for business, education and city life.
Opening up the Rosental Mitte site will enable the renovation and transformation of a central business location with excellent transport connections, while also creating new connections, green spaces and opportunities for interaction within the neighbourhood and the city.
Keep important historical structures and revitalise them with new functions.
Rather than razing everything to the ground and starting over, the urban development plan aims to develop existing urban structures and buildings step by step. Important existing structures that represent the district’s industrial past will be maintained in the medium to long term and will serve as architectural anchor points for the new neighbourhood.
Three types of buildings to reflect the neighbourhood, the district and the city.
The new buildings will be designed according to clear, simple guidelines regarding the type of building, the height and the materials used, and will be carefully integrated into the emerging district. The first type of building, which will be constructed at the edge of the site, will be based on the existing residential buildings on Maulbeerstrasse and Rosentalstrasse. The second type of building will reference the imposing industrial buildings, thereby helping to ensure that the district’s existing character is maintained.
The third type of building will be high-rise, to emphasise the status of the Badischer Bahnhof area within the urban realm and reflect Basel’s other developing areas.
Small-, medium- and large-scale interventions with a major lasting impact on the urban area.
During the first few years, the focus will be on renewing Rosental Mitte as a business location. Investing in existing buildings will bring new, modern commercial spaces to the market. In the medium to long term, this usage for business purposes will be gradually expanded to encompass other uses and new open spaces. The new Rosentalplatz will serve as a well-proportioned central public space, with the surrounding ground-floor units being used for relevant public purposes.
This gradual transformation means that Rosental Mitte will never be ‘finished’ in an absolute sense, but rather, like the rest of the city, it will be renovated and developed periodically in the long term.
Rosental Mitte today. By opening up and connecting streets and paths, a whole new world of hitherto hidden architecture will become accessible.
Rosental Mitte fully expanded.