Wiesbaden Kransand Multifunctional leisure facility

The Kasteler Rheinufer in Wiesbaden has long been a popular meeting place for young and old. It is already known for the coexistence of families out for a walk, young people playing sports, musicians under the bridge, salsa dance evenings or car tuning and graffiti enthusiasts.

The expansion of the banks of the Rhine with a modern leisure facility has increased the range of activities for sports enthusiasts and the independent cultural scene. In particular, non-club sports such as skating, BMX, bouldering, parkour and calisthenics have found a place in the newly designed facility. At this location, there is no trace of Wiesbaden's image as a boring spa town.

Public space must be sexy

As part of the redesign of the leisure facility, the city of Wiesbaden pointed out that the needs for such an area were much greater and the ideas from the population much more diverse than the size of the site could even begin to cover. This is a problem that has also become apparent in city-wide studies. The lack of leisure and recreational areas affects everyone, but young people in particular. The City of Wiesbaden's "Youth Action Concept" is trying to counteract this, among other things by co-financing the Kransand project. True to the Hessian motto "Mach, ned babbele", the state capital is showing initiative in remedying this shortcoming.

Kransand leisure facility

The leisure facility is located above a backfilled harbor basin north of the Theodor Heuss Bridge with a direct view of the Rhineland-Palatinate state capital of Mainz. The disposal and soil conditions already posed problems with the previously built retaining wall, which is why the construction of the leisure facility should avoid interfering with the soil as much as possible. In addition, the facility is partly located in the flood zone of the Rhine, which is why intervention in the ground was unavoidable.

The newly designed leisure facility is characterized by the integrated sports areas. The facility includes an approx. 800 m² skate park made of in-situ concrete, an approx. 250 m² area for fitness training, an approx. 180 m² parkour facility, an approx. 9 m long bouldering wall, as well as a balancing element for children and a table tennis table. The sports facilities are embedded in an area of vegetation consisting of shrubs and grasses. Paved recreational areas were also created to connect the sports areas. These were supplemented by tree stands, which also provide a place to sit. The recreation areas are designed in such a way that they can be ordered by a local food truck and provide electricity for possible events. There is a boundary to the crossing ramp road with a row of field maples. The result is a space for playing sports, sitting together and taking a break, which offers a great view of the Rhine and the neighboring city of Mainz. Illumination of the sports areas facilitates year-round use.

Skate park

When designing the leisure area, the main focus was on creating a skate park made of in-situ concrete. This is suitable for skateboards, BMX bikes, scooters, inline skates and, in certain areas, also for WCMX (wheelchair users). It contains wishes and suggestions from workshops held with the users.

The classic skate park elements were arranged in such a way that it is possible to ride through the facility without having to turn again. The facility contains various ramp elements as well as elements for sliding and grinding.

Calisthenics and parkour facility

The calisthenics and parkour facility was also developed in close consultation with the users and care was taken to integrate barrier-free sports equipment.

The calisthenics facility consists mainly of different bar systems that offer various opportunities to train your own muscles. Different colored EPDM surfacing was installed as fall protection. This sets it apart from the parkour facility, which is equipped with a wood chip surface. There is also a mixture of pole and concrete elements. When selecting the materials, care was taken to ensure that they are non-slip and adapted to the biometric requirements of the sports.

Graffiti wall

A highlight of the facility is a retaining wall that was built in advance. This can be used by international artists during a well-known annual street art and graffiti festival. This provides a large space for works of art in the background of the sports areas.

Handholds and volumes for climbing were also installed on this retaining wall over a length of nine meters. This allowed another use to be integrated into the confined space.



The facility was completed in December 2022 after a construction period of around 15 months and has been used and enjoyed by the people of Wiesbaden ever since.