Redesign of the Lauter - Gerberstraße area Kirchheim unter Teck

The town of Kirchheim unter Teck is consistently pursuing the goal of revitalizing its waterways in the town. One example of this is the redesigned section of the Lauter in the former tanners' quarter directly in the town centre. Before the redesign, the stream was bordered on both sides by bank and building walls. The technical development prevented any access possibilities and severely restricted the ecological functions of the watercourse. However, through urban development changes, it was possible to gain a limited amount of open space for the watercourse and open space design. This required a great deal of patience on the part of all those involved. Almost 8 years passed from the first ideas to the implementation. The challenge of the redesign planning was to create an attractive, inner-city recreation area for the citizens despite strong construction restrictions and at the same time to ecologically upgrade the watercourse taking into account the flood situation.
The bank walls were demolished where possible; others were "greened" by pre-filling with armourstone in combination with engineering-biological construction methods and planting. Today, a small neighbourhood square opens up access to the widened stream via bank terraces; near-natural banks and diverse structures have opened up new habitats for aquatic life. Despite all the narrowness, the result is nature you can touch in the middle of the city.