The city council of Weilburg, Germany, organized a design competition upon the demolition of an existing parking structure. The ACME’s terrace is a contemporary spin on the Baroque terraced-landscape building typology found nearby in the Weilburg Castle Gardens.
The form becomes an integrated part of the landscape, allowing the project to blend into the surrounding context while inviting inhabitation and managing to create “specific urban character towards some if its city context”. This project won the first prize from the voting public and the second prize from the professional jury.
The proposal, with a required program of 19,200 sqm, combines large format retail with higher value housing and more parking. Vertical routes are created at specific moments to provide “connective visual sight lines and public routes between the city center and river.”
Externally, the fins are used as steps, planters, benches and circulation spaces to create public routes and parks within the project. Variations in the thickness, spacing and position allow the fins to form larger openings like entrances, balconies and windows so they can drive the overall aesthetic of the project.
