Rhine Boulevard, Cologne-Deutz

If you take the train into Cologne and pass the Hohenzollern Bridge over the Rhine, you will see a spectacular riverside staircase on the right bank of the Rhine. This structure is part of the "Rheinboulevard" project, which will permanently change the Deutz district.

The starting point was a two-phase planning competition held throughout Europe by the city of Cologne as part of the North Rhine-Westphalian urban development programme "Regionale 2010 Cologne/Bonn", which PLANORAMA Landschaftsarchitektur won in September 2007.
With the competition, the city of Cologne seized the unique opportunity to connect the right bank of the Rhine, which had previously been pushed out of the urban area and to the edge, with the city centre and to take the Rhine, which had previously been regarded as a border, into the centre in the future.

A BIG GIFT
To achieve this, PLANORAMA dared to propose a grand gesture: the Rhine was finally to be made accessible over a great length via a stepped area in the centre of the city. And although the awarding authority had never intended such a structure in the embankment, the design convinced the jury and the politicians.
With a total volume of approx. 24 mio. EUR, a modern urban structure has now been created on an area of 2 hectares, opposite the World Heritage Site with the Cathedral and the Old Town, giving the people of Cologne and their visitors completely new qualities on the Rhine embankment, which was previously inaccessible.

The Rhine embankment becomes accessible
The core of the design is the 500-metre-long embankment staircase, which spans between the Hohenzollern Bridge and the Deutzer Bridge. About 10,000 people can be seated on the staircase.
The staircase overcomes a height difference of about 6 m and is divided into generous seating steps, which are structured by a middle and a lower widened landing. Walkway areas are incorporated into the layout at three points and allow for rapid ascent and descent. The linear step structures are interrupted by three "bastions", which push into the staircase with varying lengths as balcony-like exits. At the northern and southern ends, ramps guarantee barrier-free access to the lower landing level at the water's edge. On the landward side, the actual boulevard, with an average width of 10 metres, is connected as a direct and fast route for pedestrians and cyclists in a north-south direction.

A MAJOR PROJECT BETWEEN HIGH WATER AND ARCHAEOLOGY
The development of the previously inaccessible bank of the Rhine was a very complex planning task; extensive flood protection requirements had to be taken into account. Since the entire structure is located in the flood zone of a 100-year flood event, it can be completely inundated.
The numerous archaeological finds in the construction area, which vividly illustrate approximately 2,000 years of urban history and were visibly integrated into the new design in numerous ways, also constituted a special challenge and, at the same time, an enrichment. This results in exciting breaks between new and old.

For the communication of the large-scale project, several citizen participation processes for interested parties and residents were carried out with joint planning workshops. In July 2015, the riverside staircase was opened in a ceremony and has since been a highly frequented and popular destination for the people of Cologne and visitors to the city. The opening of the boulevard took place at the end of 2016.

First prizeGerman Landscape Architecture Award 2017

Jury verdict: The Rheinboulevard is an outstanding example of how a single landscape architectural gesture can permanently change an entire urban space. A staircase to the Rhine stretches for 500 metres along the Deutz side of the Rhine and completely redefines it: the side of the Rhine facing away from the city becomes a city grandstand with a view of Cologne's city centre. This staging of the river space in combination with a high quality of stay, especially in the evening sun, quickly made the Rhine boulevard a crowd puller and has the potential to become a new landmark of Cologne.

The jury sees the design of the Rhine boulevard as an exemplary awakening of the hitherto dormant urban qualities of the Deutz side of the Rhine. In particular, it praises the courage of this clear and only seemingly simple design. The subtle integration of flood protection and the guarantee of barrier-free access are praised. In addition, the project impresses with its careful and exciting handling of the historical layers from the city's 2000-year history.