27.06.2024
SLA designs first major project in Germany
We are happy to present our first major project in Germany: The 47,000 m2 nature-based neighborhood of Sugar Valley.
Sugar Valley is one of Munich’s largest and most ambitious urban development projects, transforming an old industrial area into a new, mixed, and nature-based neighborhood.
The project’s declared vision is to create ‘the neighborhood of the future’ and one of Germany’s most sustainable neighborhoods – for example by making the development 100% carbon neutral.
“In Sugar Valley, we are integrating buildings, infrastructure, rainwater management, microclimate, and outdoor spaces into one big comprehensive plan. By reusing the existing industrial structures, materials, and atmospheres and creating a large, car-free city floor, the neighborhood gains a completely new identity in Munich.”
— Franziska Meisel, Associate Partner, SLA
The Sugar Valley site includes Siemens’ former factories and constitutes a 47,000 m2 industrial area in the southwest of Munich.
When completed, the district is planned to contain more than 20,000 m2 of green and publicly accessible outdoor spaces, including a 400 m-long blue-green ‘city nature axis’ that follows the main route of the former factories.
The public space and nature design has been central to the plan’s ambition to maximize the neighborhood’s important ecosystem services.
“The landscape is designed with inspiration from the Alps and Munich's surrounding valleys, ensuring that the project supports the development of local biodiversity. The natural microclimate absorbs, cleans, and alleviates rainwater during torrential downpours and minimizes urban heat islands during summer heat waves - a problem that is only getting worse in southern Germany.”
— Franziska Meisel, Associate Partner, SLA
It is the German real estate developer Salvis who is behind the Sugar Valley project.
The master plan for Sugar Valley is designed by SLA in collaboration with Dutch KCAP and Danish COBE. The landscape is designed by SLA in collaboration with local German landscape architect MGK.
10.06.2025
SLA creates 104 new neighbourhood parks in Abu Dhabi
We are happy to share that we have completed one of the largest urban greening projects to date in the UAE: 104 new neighbourhood parks across Abu Dhabi, designed to improve health, biodiversity, and the everyday quality of life for all Abu Dhabi’s residents.
01.06.2025
SLA and GHD win major design project for Ookwemin Minising
We are incredibly excited to share that we – together with our partner GHD – have won the assignment as prime consultant for Ookwemin Minising: Toronto’s new 39.6-hectare island neighborhood planned for more than 15,000 residents!
23.05.2025
SLA exhibits New Nordic City Nature at Oslo National Museum
Today, the exhibition “New Nordic – Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place” opens at the National Museum in Oslo. SLA and Dyvik Kahlen have made a specially designed pavilion for the museum square – that takes visitors from the Michelin kitchen out into the urban realm. Its roof and landscape are planted with native, edible species from Oslo’s shores and forests, and offers a taste of New Nordic City Nature.