Wiesbaden Ostfeld

A new Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) central campus for around 7,000 employees, and an urban development district for around 10,000 residents is to be built on the Ostfeld site in Wiesbaden, following a European-wide two-phase urban and landscape-planning ideas competition run by the state capital of Wiesbaden and SEG Stadtentwicklungsgesellschaft. The winning schemes for the campus site have just been announced, with the design by schneider+schumacher and GTL Landschaftsarchitektur Kassel winning first prize. For the urban development district, the jury selected the design by Studio Wessendorf, Berlin with DLA Landschaftsarchitekten Wiesbaden as winners. The development of the BKA campus is scheduled to begin in 2027 and construction work is estimated to take ten years.

schneider+schumacher’s and GTL’s design for the new BKA campus not only fulfils the building’s stringent safeguarding and security measures, it also creates an inviting and open campus plan. With its sensitive approach to the existing topography, the scheme dovetails into existing green spaces and the landscape beyond. By arranging the pentagonal buildings and the cluster functions on the “onion principle” when approaching the square, it creates a sequence of safety zones, while the spaces in-between, plus a central square at the heart of the campus are designed as places where people can get together. The jury voted unanimously in favour of this “striking and concise” design, which demonstrates how even this large spatial remit can be accommodated on a greenfield site without becoming too dominating. The jury also praised the building’s striking geometry and how it varied both the width and height of the building volumes.

For a closer look at the design, please see the detailed documentation on the project website “Mehr Wiesbaden wagen!” – including an interview with Gordan Dubokovic, Managing Partner of schneider+schumacher Städtebau GmbH and Sabine Plagemann, a member of the Management Board of schneider+schumacher Städtebau GmbH. An exhibition of the winning designs was opened on November 4 at the LuisenForum in Wiesbaden and can be visited until November 29 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 14:00 -19:00, and on Wednesdays from 09:00 – 14:00).