Tour: Europaviertel, Lyoner Quartier u.m.

(Cover photo by Prof.hc Dr.-Ing.Philipp Meuser - we thank you for making it available)

3 S-Bahn stations, 3 urban development areas

An architectural tour for Frankfurt residents and visitors who are interested in large new development areas close to the city center in Frankfurt.
Photo: (c) Philipp Meuser

European quarter - A conversion area close to the city center, where a new mixed urban area with a trade fair extension, many apartments and a new park was created on the site of the former freight and marshalling yard

Lyon quarter - also operated by the owners and users of the office buildings, the Niederrad office town, which was built in the sixties, is being converted into a mixed district.

Gateway Gardens - Under the approach lane of the new northwest runway at Frankfurt Airport, a new office and hotel district is being built between old oak trees in place of the former housing area of the American Air Force.

All areas are within four stops of the S 8 and S 9 S-Bahn lines.

The combined architecture tour lasts around 5 hours, with the option of breaks in between. We are also happy to show you each area individually.

The Europaviertel

The first Frankfurt airport, the freight yard, the large marshalling yard were traffic systems that were important for Frankfurt's connection with Germany and the world. A wide street has now been created here, which is intended to ensure that Frankfurt is on par in the world of wide streets. The 2.4 km long Europaallee, the main access roads of the district that began with big buzzwords - a street of European dimensions, built by European architects, doing justice to the Frankfurt financial center - has now become the background for interviews in which politicians explain the inadequate architectural and Criticize the design requirements in the area.

The name is 'Europaviertel': a million square metres of city, a quarter of which is parks, around 5,000 apartments and ultimately 30,000 jobs have been created since 2005 near Frankfurt's city centre and trade fair. During the architectural tour, the Skyline Plaza shopping centre, which opened in autumn 2013, is shown. It is located at the connection point with the existing city and is intended to attract the population with its public roof garden, in modern German 'Skyline Plaza', to enjoy the view of the Europaviertel. It is surrounded by a series of high-rise buildings, the office and hotel tower Tower One and the Grand Tower at 173 m, the highest residential tower in Germany. Projects under construction and planned that open up to Mainzer Landstrasse and the apron of the main train station include the Spin office and hotel tower, the green residential high-rise Eden and the Icoon residential tower by Mecanoo Architects from the Netherlands.

The Lyon quarter

Separation of functions was in vogue when the Niederrad office district was founded in Frankfurt in the 1960s to provide 144 hectares of office space and thus also to reduce the pressure for change on the inner city. As architectural highlights, the German Nestlé headquarters and the Olivetti office towers by Egon Eiermann, which are known beyond the city, were built in 1970. Due to their distinctive goblet shape, they always stand out from the nearby A5.

Times had changed. In 2006, there were 30 vacant offices. Morning and evening commuter traffic jams and a lack of atmosphere made the district unpopular. The wishes of property owners in Niederrad were one of the reasons for change. This architectural tour will show you the approaches to creating a lively district seven days a week, with more restaurants, housing for office workers and improved open space. A 'New Niederrad location initiative' - SINN - is trying to bring about change. The name was already a success: the office town of Niederrad became the Lyoner Quartier. Based on a framework plan development study by bb22 architects and town planners, changes are now visible. One flagship project was the conversion of an office tower into apartments by architect Stefan Forster.

Gateway Gardens

In the immediate vicinity of the airport, on the site of the former housing area of the American air force base in Frankfurt, a service area is now being developed. When the end of American use became apparent, the city wanted to ensure development with positive effects. The 35 hectare site is now being developed by a project development company in which the city has a 50% stake. The area is given a special character by the absence of fences and the old oak trees. On the architectural tour we will also show you the new development, around 50% completed, consisting mainly of office buildings and hotels. A special facility is the HOLM - House of Logistics and Mobility. Institutes from the surrounding universities and private companies work and research on this topic under one roof. The building is built to passive house standards. Overall, the aim is to achieve DGNB platinum certification for the area. To this end, for example, there is a requirement to green 60% of the roof areas. Even more importantly: all buildings are heated with district heating. On our architectural tour, we reach the area via the underground S-Bahn station, which was inaugurated in December 2019 and provides excellent connections to local public transport, an area in the middle of traffic routes: over railway tunnels, between the A3, major access roads to the airport and under the approach path of the new runway.

project selection

European quarter

Master plan from AS&P
Skyline Plaza (Henning Jost + Gisela Simon -Facade Jourdan & Müller)
Tower One (Meurer Architects)
Grand Tower (Magnus Kaminiarz & Cie)
Spintower (Hadi Teherani)
Eden (Magnus Kaminiarz and Helmut Jahn)
office building 'Die Leichtigkeit des Steins' (the lightness of stone) - Banque Parisbas (schneider + schumacher)
Praedium (Dietz Joppien Architects)
Headquarters of the FAZ (Eike Becker Architects)
Westendtower (Meyer Schmitz-Morkramer)
Axis (Meixner Schlueter Wendt)
Pauline in the Europa Garden (Franconian Architects)

The Lyon quarter

Nestlé Germany Headquarters (Meid + Romeick)
Olivetti Towers (Egon Eiermann)
Atricom (Kraemer, Sieverts and Partner)
Prisma (Auer + Weber)
Apartment building Lyoner Straße 19 - conversion of an office building (Stefan Forster)

Gateway Gardens