Aquis Plaza

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Aquis Plaza
Aquis Plaza
Main entrance in the evening on the opening day
Basic data
Location: Aachen , North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia 
Opening: October 28, 2015
Sales area : 29,200 m²
Shops: 130
Operator: ECE project management
Website: www.aquisplaza.de
Transport links
Stops: Aachen Kaiserplatz,
Aachen Willy-Brandt-Platz
Omnibus : 2 3A / B 4 5 12 13A / B 15 22 23 25 35 36 43 45 55 65 66 SB66 73 125 135 173 N1 N8
Motorways : B1 B57 B264
Parking spaces : 600
Technical specifications
Construction time : 2013-2015
Architects : Blauraum Architects
Building-costs: 290 million euros

The Aquis Plaza ( Kaiserplatz-Galerie in earlier planning phases ) is a shopping center in downtown Aachen at the eastern end of the Adalbertstrasse shopping street. It extends from Willy-Brandt-Platz to Kaiserplatz . After years of preparation and problems, including the purchase of the necessary land, the ECE Group was able to start demolition and excavation work on the construction site on May 16, 2013 with the groundbreaking ceremony . Strabag Real Estate and the Hamburg architects Blauraum Architekten are involved in the development of the center . On January 16, 2014, the final building permit was issued by the city of Aachen. The completion of the building shell was celebrated with a topping-out ceremony on October 21, 2014 . The opening took place on October 28, 2015 and is said to have attracted more than 84,000 visitors.

description

Model of the owner ECE project management

Around 130 retail stores with a sales area of 29,200 m 2 are spread across the basement, ground floor, 1st and 2nd floors of the shopping center, including large retail chains such as Sport Scheck , Zara , TK Maxx , Reserved , Media-Saturn-Holding and Rewe . Around 700 people are employed in the center.

The complex consists of two building wings, which are connected by a passage with a glass roof from Kaiserplatz to Willy-Brandt-Platz. This can be accessed from all four levels, which are connected by stairs, escalators and elevators.

The parking areas have 600 spaces and can only be reached via Kaiserplatz. They are located above the sales levels on the 3rd and 4th floors. A “car finder system” is available to find the parking space again.

The model of the shopping center was presented at Expo Real in Munich in 2013 and caused a sensation.

History of origin

Construction site of the Aquis Plaza in February 2014
Poster for the topping-out ceremony

In mid-2008, the planning committee of the city of Aachen announced the development plan for the construction of the so-called Aquis Plaza (previously Kaiserplatz-Galerie ), a three-storey, glazed shopping center with 29,000 m² of retail space and 2,000 m² of catering space ( food court ) in the pedestrian zone Adalbertstrasse (with two Main entrances at Kaiserplatz and Willy-Brandt-Platz). The opening was originally planned for spring 2009, but has since had to be postponed to autumn 2015. The city wanted high-quality specialist shops to settle here, which should enhance the area visually, functionally and economically. A multi-storey car park with a maximum of 630 parking spaces should also be built in the area.

In mid-2007, demolition work began on the new building. Among other things, the Gloria-Palast cinema , a building from the 1950s that had been vacant for several years, was closed.

The project-related development plan was approved by a city council decision on February 18, 2009. The concluded implementation contract provided for staggered deadlines for the implementation of the project. The building application had to be submitted within a period of 12 months.

Several conditions were attached to the construction of the shopping center. Among other things, a total of 3,000 square meters of new living space is to be created in the area of ​​Harscampstrasse (1,200 square meters) and within the Alleenring (1,800 square meters) for the loss of living space no later than five years after the conclusion of the contract. A new traffic concept also had to be developed for Kaiserplatz, the parking garage entrance to Aquis Plaza and the bypass road around St. Adalbert .

history

According to its own information, the Aquis Plaza reached around 25,000 visitors per day at the beginning of 2017.

The "Times" restaurant with 450 square meters of catering space closed 14 months after opening due to a lack of customers. The two-storey ice cream parlor “La Luna” and the “Aixpresso” café have also closed since then.

After severe storms on May 29, 2018, the basement of Aquis Plazas flooded about one and a half meters high, and the underground entrance to the parking garage was closed for several hours.

opponent

Critical voices on the site fence

The effects on the existing retail structure as well as monument and environmental protection factors were discussed as counter-arguments. The environmental protection factors include in particular the air and noise levels around Kaiserplatz, which are already critical today. From the point of view of monument protection , a significant intervention is being made in a district that has grown since the Middle Ages. But bat roosts in existing, ramshackle buildings were also cited as an argument. In addition, the sale of a section of the street Adalbertsberg, along with the loss of a historic street, was viewed by critics as problematic.

In mid-August 2008 the citizens' initiative "Kaiserplatzgalerie - aber different!" Was founded, which wanted to change the planning and dispense with the sale of the Adalbertsberg with a referendum.

The initiative was launched in January 2010 in “Kaiserplatzgalerie? - No thanks! ”And since then has pursued the goal of getting the city administration to reconsider support for the project. The reason given was the negative effect on the adjacent quarter due to the years of delays in the start of construction and the failure to consider proposed changes in the planning. The original demands of the initiative were not taken into account in the city council decisions.

  • opening

  • 300 m queue for the opening of Saturn in Aquis Plaza at 6 a.m.

  • 1st floor

  • OLED lighting over four floors

  • Musicians at the opening

  • Rush of customers

Web links

Commons : Aquis Plaza  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Point of attraction in the imperial city - Aquis Plaza, Aachen. (No longer available online.) ECE Projektmanagement GmbH & Co. KG, archived from the original on September 5, 2014 ; accessed on February 2, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ece.de
  2. ↑ Gerald Eimer: There's a new name for the groundbreaking ceremony. In: Aachener Nachrichten . May 16, 2013, accessed February 2, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Aquis Plaza on the website of Blauraum Architects ( Memento of the original from November 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.blauraum.eu
  4. ↑ Building permit for "Aquis Plaza" granted. In: Aachener Nachrichten . January 16, 2014, accessed February 2, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Stephan Mohne: Starting shot 2015: Aquis Plaza million project celebrates topping-out ceremony. In: Aachener Nachrichten . October 21, 2014, accessed February 3, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Aquis Plaza: Thanks for 84,425 visitors to the opening , October 29, 2015
  7. ↑ Robert Esser: "Aquis Plaza": Deep views into the interior of the shopping temple , in Aachener Zeitung of October 8, 2013, accessed on November 19, 2015
  8. ^ Aquis Plaza Aachen: Topping-out ceremony for the new shopping gallery in the city. Occupancy rate already over 75 percent - opening in autumn 2015. (No longer available online.) ECE Projektmanagement GmbH & Co. KG, archived from the original on February 3, 2015 ; accessed on February 2, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ece.de
  9. ↑ ECE Projektmanagement GmbH & Co. KG (ed.): Concretization of the planning according to Section 5.1.1 of the implementation contract for the development plan no .: 891 of 22/24 October 2012 . ( Online [accessed March 14, 2015]).
  10. ^ Project Aquis Plaza on the website of the city of Aachen
  11. ↑ a b Robert Esser: Aquis Plaza: "Times" complains about customer downturn in Aachener Zeitung, January 5, 2017
  12. ↑ After extreme storms: cleaning up and new floods in Aachener Nachrichten, May 30, 2018
  13. ↑ Gerald Eimer: Concerns are gradually growing in classic shopping locations. In: Aachener Nachrichten . October 23, 2013, accessed February 2, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Martina Feldhaus: Roman ceramic shards at Aquis Plaza. In: Aachener Nachrichten . November 1, 2013, accessed February 2, 2015 .
  15. ^ Kaiserplatz-Galerie: Citizens' petitions against street sales. (PDF; 44.3 kB) Accessed February 2, 2015 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 29 ″  N , 6 ° 5 ′ 35 ″  E