Landmarken AG develops harbor forum in Dortmund
Dortmund. Landmarken AG is developing a start-up and innovation campus in Europe's largest canal port. Together with Dortmund's economic development agency, plans for the Hafenforum (port forum) on Speicherstrasse were presented on Wednesday.
The design, submitted in collaboration with Gerber Architekten, impressed the city in the expression of interest process and has now been awarded the contract by the city.
The project, which includes a co-working space, restaurants, and a center for entrepreneurs, makes sustainable use of the existing structure of the former warehouse and silo buildings on the southern Speicherstraße. Careful interventions in the building structure will create loft-like and multifunctional spaces for the working environments of tomorrow. "The Hafenforum bridges the gap between future-oriented, established medium-sized businesses and the digital natives and modern founders of our time," says Norbert Hermanns, CEO of Landmarken AG. "It's hip and cool, but also a melting pot of avant-garde, zeitgeist, and lively establishment. Established companies find a new home here, as do young start-ups."
In the start-up and innovation campus, founders will receive advice and find modern work and leisure opportunities. A versatile space concept will offer the right amount of space for all phases of company growth. Covering a total area of around 17,300 square meters in three buildings at Speicherstraße 10–20, the campus will include a start-up center for the city of Dortmund, where the economic development agency will also offer special services for female entrepreneurs. In addition, there will be a co-working space, restaurants, and, in a new building to the south, spacious office environments that will also be of interest to established companies. A gallery and exhibition space is also planned.
Landmarken AG will not only realize the project development, but also install a community management system that sees the start-up and innovation campus as a cooperation center where users can network with each other. "The start-up and innovation campus will become a hotspot for Dortmund's start-up scene, start-ups, established companies, and associations, and will provide impetus for the development of the harbor district and the surrounding Nordstadt district," says Tobias Fuchs, head of the Metropole Ruhr unit at Landmarken AG.
The agora forms the center
The heart of the community will be the new harbor forum between buildings A and B, which connects Speicherstraße with the newly designed promenade at the harbor with its open passageway. This ensures successful integration into the neighborhood. The centerpiece of the new campus is the Agora on the first floor, a spectacular event space that can also be used externally. The project developers deliberately decided not to add any additional space to the Agora so that it can be open up to the fourth floor. In addition, a mobility concept with sharing options is being developed in consultation with the city.
Landmarken AG presented its concept for the revitalization of the Dortmund Health Center in December. The company is building a hotel, offices, and a daycare center with green outdoor areas in the inner-city monument ensemble from the 1950s. "With the Hafenforum in Dortmund, we are strengthening our commitment to the Ruhr region and want to actively promote the transformation process from an industrial to a service and knowledge-based society. We are very pleased to be able to do this in partnership with the city and economic development stakeholders," says Tobias Fuchs.
