Nuremberg Quelle Park – from a bus park to a neighbourhood park

By Johann Senner (Dipl.-Ing. Ing. (FH), Planstatt Senner)

©Planstatt Senner

A new neighbourhood park was created in the western part of Nuremberg on the former bus park of the Quelle building based on plans by the Planstatt Senner planning office. Nearly 1 hectare of asphalt was turned into 1 hectare of green space. Just as the former mail-order company’s diverse products are available to everyone, the new neighbourhood park was also to be open to everyone and offer a variety of uses, thus promoting social interaction in the neighbourhood. It was to become a park for everyone. This was a key finding of citizen participation, which the planners adopted just as much as the daily routes taken by residents and the children’s desire to play. In addition, water was to play an important role and the concept of the “edible city” and community gardening was to be implemented. The latter can be found in the northern part of the Quelle Park in the community garden plot with 16 fruit trees and a planting strip for berry bushes and espalier fruit trees. Institutions and associations from the neighbourhood have taken over sponsorship to ensure harvesting and care.  

In addition to the already described community garden plot with fruit trees, there is a large tree-covered lawn with a children’s play area. In-ground trampolines, rope play equipment and a large liana swing that can be used by many children at the same time leave nothing to be desired. The third plot is an exercise space for everyone with a varied range of sports and play equipment for both young and old. Underneath a sparse grove of honey locust trees are multifunctional units designed for various, cross-generational activities such as exercising, climbing or other sporting activities. The units consist of modular steel or concrete structures.  

Together with Playparc, Planstatt Senner has combined typical calisthenics equipment with units that allow multiple uses, offering a wide range of recreational and fitness activities. All sports and play equipment is painted in yellow, which is the colour of the western districts of Nuremberg. 

There is a spacious square directly across from the Quelle building, which acts as a central link between the three individual plots. Coming from the north, the square marks the entrance to the neighbourhood park and takes visitors into its centre, where they will find water features in the form of a playable water field. Water gushes and cascades from sixteen fountains, providing not only a cooling effect, but above all a lot of fun for the children in the neighbourhood. 

The square is located between the individual plots and is part of the main road running along the north-south axis, connecting Augsburger Straße and Wandererstraße. The square thus provides access to all parts of the park and is a meeting place for residents and visitors. In addition, the square is spacious enough to accommodate various activities and events (e.g. small markets, district festivals). The plots are edged by a fringe and long benches, on the one hand adding some visual appeal and setting off the edges of the square, while on the other hand providing adequate seating at this important meeting points - in combination with the fountains. The square features three prominent multi-stem plane trees in open, planted 5x5 metre tree pits. The square surface and all the park paths are covered with interlocking concrete paving blocks, the colour of which matches the colour of the base of the Quelle building, thus creating a further reference to the history of Quelle.