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.

The Sugar Valley project transforms the former Siemens factories into a 47,000 m2 mixed, nature-based neighborhood containing 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.

“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.

Taking inspiration from the Alps and Munich's surrounding valleys, the project ensures a high biodiversity and natural microclimate optimization that will alleviate the biggest urban challenges facing Munich in these years.

“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.

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