New Trade Fair Parc Luxembourg and Train Station Luxembourg-Kirchberg / Knipper Helbig Engineering + Pohl Architekten + Steinmetz De Meyer Architects

The trio of KNIPPERS HELBIG Advanced Engineering, POHL Architekten Stadtplaner and STEINMETZDEMEYER Architects have been awarded 1st Prize for their proposal for the international architectural competition for the new building of the Trade Fair Park Luxembourg and train station Luxembourg-Kirchberg. Additional images, a brief description of the competition and the architects description after the break.

Courtesy of Knippers Helbig

The brief of the competition was to propose designs for a sustainable redevelopment of the exhibition grounds with a central public transport hub in the area Luxembourg-Kirchberg.

The focus of the design is on the new construction of an all purpose exhibition hall, administration buildings, multifunctional and congress areas, and the arrangement of a hotel at the exhibition grounds. The infrastructure for an economical supply and waste management, the arrangement of parking for the exhibition center and incentive parking facilities were part of the requirements for a redevelopment concept. Additional requirements were proposals for a new construction of a railway station in Luxembourg-Kirchberg with a peripheral station, a bus terminal and a tram stop.

Courtesy of Knippers Helbig

The judicious integration of the new exhibition structure and the railway station into the urban design master plan of Kirchberg was inevitable to assure a sustainable development of the area.

Courtesy of Knippers Helbig

The jury unanimously nominated the design team POHL Architekten Stadtplaner, Jena with STEINMETZDEMEYER Architects, Urbanistes, Luxembourg in collaboration with KNIPPERS HELBIG Advanced Engineering, Stuttgart and HAUSLADEN Ingenieure, Munich, BARTENBACH Lichtlabor, Austria and AREAL Landschaftsplanung, Luxembourg for the first prize and suggested the team for the realization of the project. Integrating the exhibition grounds into the urban context allows the exhibition company for the first time to live up to the standard of a trade fair park. From the initiator’s point of view the functionality of the design is exemplary and allows for hosting big interrelated trade fairs, as well as the organization of several independent, and yet individually assignable, medium and small events. The new exhibition grounds will cover a net usable area of 46.000 m2.

The necessary infrastructure has been planned to be economically consolidated and easy to find. The design of the building volumes is constituted in a compact size. The efficiency of the intelligently designed supporting structure has been perceived as particularly remarkable. It enables the required large spans of column-free exhibition halls and provides a grid for the installation of versatile buildings within the halls.

Courtesy of Knippers Helbig

The competition theme, designing a Solar-Plus exhibition center, evolved from the geometry of the building and the utilization profile to set a trend-setting example for sustainable building. According to the calculations the exhibition hall can hold its energy balance omitting the use of fossil fuels. And is therefore not burdening the environment. Another design point was the extensive natural lighting and the installation of photovoltaic systems on the folded roofs, which have been optimized on base of energy calculations. As a result, the operational costs can be reduced considerably.

Courtesy of Knippers Helbig

With the detailed design and planning documentation on hand, the realisation could be started soon. Luxembourg will be the owner of a worldwide unique Solar-Plus Exhibition Center and thus, gain another economic testimonial.