Emscher Master Plan Pilot Projects

The Emscher Master Plan is ambitious. On the one hand, the approximately 50km long Emscher river corridor is to be overplanned in large parts and, on the other hand, the sealed surfaces in the rainwater catchment area are to be reduced by 30% by 2020.

In order to give this long-term strategy a "face", we were commissioned to develop concepts for 14 pilot projects. These included projects as diverse as retrofitting an old 1920s residential area with a surface stormwater system, or converting an old septic tank into a recreational pool.

The most important project, however, was to tell the story of this generational task. To this end, a concept for an Emscher Info Park was developed. Located on an island between the Emscher River and a shipping canal, an information and experience center was to be built into an old septic tank of a sewage treatment plant. The old septic tanks were to illustrate water phenomena and rainwater purification processes.