: metabolon Leppe waste disposal centre I Regionale 2010

: Garbage once quite differently

Recycle a landfill? A waste product of our short-sighted way of acting becomes the center of new thinking. A former waste product of our lives becomes a landfill of thought and action. Memorable images of metabolism show this site as a future process. Change is part of our concept. Change underlies the concept of succession. From the tip of the landfill to the valley, different stages of succession are made tangible. Embedded in this band of succession, the sporting aspect is an important component of the concept. Furthermore, two material cycles are staged. The natural cycle, attached to the foot of the slope, explains the continuous cycle of life. This forms an interface with the recycling track. This cycle, shaped by man, is vividly illustrated on the path from the new multifunctional centre to the tip of the landfill. The landfill cone will be both a landmark visible from afar and available for leisure activities in the region

: metabolon has received an appreciation of the Association of German Landscape Architects NRW 2012

: metabolon

Recycling a landfill? A waste product of our short-sighted way of acting becomes the center of new thinking. A former waste product of our lives becomes a landfill of thought and action. Memorable images of metabolism show this site as a future process. Change is part of our concept. Change underlies the concept of succession. From the tip of the landfill to the valley, different stages of succession are made tangible. The sporting aspect of the concept is embedded in this succession belt. Furthermore, two material cycles are staged. The natural cycle, attached to the foot of the slope, explains the continuous cycle of life. This forms an interface with the recycling track. This cycle, shaped by man, is vividly illustrated on the path from the new multifunctional centre to the tip of the landfill.


: the entrance area

A sign is already set at the access road: a cutting in the wooded slope shows a first impression of the landfill cone. A visitor centre is being built in the current entrance area, which will offer rooms for lectures, seminars and training courses. Guided tours of the site also begin here.


: the landfill cone

The landfill cone is the heart of :metabolon. Its clear geometry makes it a landmark of the disposal centre, visible from afar, and a diagram of the settlement processes. At the top of the landfill cone at the end of the recycling axis is the cone top. A rubbery landscape to relax and enjoy the view. This is also the starting point of a slide approximately 100m long to the base of the cone.


: the recycling axis

About the recycling axis you get from the very bottom to the top of the cone. Over a length of four hundred meters, one hundred meters of height are overcome. The axis is flanked by a hundred garbage cans. Some of these bins contain lots of interesting facts about garbage and its impact on the environment, garbage avoidance and recycling.


: the succession ribbon

The power of nature to reclaim and develop is also a central theme of the design. From the valley to the tip of the landfill, a successional ribbon left to its own devices develops. Similar to the natural vegetation zones of a mountain, the plant communities are graded from forest to sparse mountain vegetation at the summit. The approximately two-kilometre-long accessible planting strip was planted with the most diverse species. The future will show how the introduced species will develop, as the vegetation is left to its own devices.


: the Natural Cycle

In nature there is a constant cycle of life. It is a self-contained cycle. At the edge of the landfill hill, this cycle is represented by a vegetation diagram. Small trees develop into large ones, die and are transformed by nature into humus.... from which new trees grow again.


: the pilot park

Currently, 3.5 hectares of used industrial land are located in the northern area of the Leppe Disposal Centre. An additional 7.0 ha of commercial space will be created adjacent to the south for the increasingly diverse waste management industry. The design elements of :metabolon will also leave their mark on the pilot park and lend identity to the commercial area.


: the interspaces

Within :metabolon, the interspaces primarily serve the purpose of demarcating the functional spaces from one another. As a target for the Regionale 2010, but especially for the final state of the site, the aim is to keep these spaces simple, to 'clear them out' and to green them just as modestly. The extensive lawns that are created in the process can serve as further action areas in the long term.


: the membrane

Around the landfill fence, various views offer the opportunity to discover the work processes of a landfill from the outside. The membrane becomes part of the cycling and walking trail concept that links the landfill with its surroundings.


: the extracurricular learning site

Environmental education is a crucial aspect of our journey into the future. Waste sorting, waste prevention and recycling are just some of the buzzwords to implement sustainable development. In addition to dry frontal teaching in schools, hands-on education is crucial for learning and passing on environmentally conscious behavior at an early age.


: Sports and more

The landfill will offer a variety of recreational activities in the future:
Moutainbike trails, bobby cars, downhill, stair running, cross-country golf and many more options will make the landfill a special experience.

AppreciationGerman Landscape Architecture Award 2015

Jury verdict: With the idea of recycling a landfill, the authors create a complex landscape as an image of today's social systems and material cycles. While the disposal business is still partly ongoing, a diversely structured leisure facility is created, whose modern approach shows ways into the future.

The geometric figure of the landfill cone is staged as a landmark with the "cone tip" and stands for the change of a whole region. With further building blocks such as the "recycling axis" or the "succession belt", topics are presented that are typically part of the functional program of such transformation spaces. Here the authors succeed in approaching the rather mundane tasks with an exceptionally high aesthetic standard. The detailing developed on this basis generates suggestive images and objects with artistic charisma. This offensive aesthetic can credibly assert itself against the still ongoing management and also establish itself in the long term in the neighborhood of commercial uses.

Not only the diverse action offers, but above all the educational concept linked to the design idea stand for a very high attractiveness and cultural radiance of the place also in the long term.