City centre development Steps to Bonn main station to become more attractive
Bonn · The first shops at “Urban Soul” on the Nordfeld in front of Bonn main station are to open at the end of the year. The stairs to the underground should also be decorated by then.
Progress in the construction on Nordfeld, opposite the main train station, is apparently going so well that the Düsseldorf investor developer will be able to open the first shops for this year’s Christmas business. The administration told local politicians in the latest planning committee meeting that shops on the lower ground floor of the “Urban Soul” project would be able to start selling at this time.
As it is likely that the number of commuters at Poststraße will increase from this point on, the design of the stairs and escalators is to be expedited. If possible, the development should take place before the shops are opened in order not to be hindered by streams of customers. The committee has now cleared the way for the previous design competition. However, the district council must finally approve the plans in April.
The two Bonn artists, Louisa Clement and Christoph Dahlhausen, as well as Michael Jäger and Heike Weber from Cologne, are to develop their design ideas, according to guidelines from the administration. All four have experience with art projects in public spaces. The city is proposing implementing the winning design.
The primary objective from the administration’s point of view, is to design the colour scheme and lighting so that there are no trouble spots. It is planned to clad the sides of the stairs in a glass façade. The prevailing colour is red. “The artistic design is to be applied in the form of a print on the sheets of glass,” says an administrative document approved by Bonn district council. The results of the design competition will be handed to the art commission for evaluation. The district council will have the final say.
(Original text: Philipp Königs. Translation: kc)
