A huge parking lot becomes a spacious green and open space – high technical requirements due to the historical curve of the Vienna river – construction of the first sections will start in autumn
Vienna (OTS) – A sea of flowers instead of an asphalt desert: Vienna’s largest inner-city heat island is about to undergo a comprehensive transformation! True to the motto “Get out of the asphalt”, the 12,000 m2 parking lot between the Wienzeilen will soon become an attractive place to stay with lots of greenery and cooling. There will be no construction of the current parking area, but rather a large-scale unsealing and the creation of a spacious inner-city green oasis, including the preservation of the ever-popular flea market. In the area east of Kettenbrückengasse, the Naschmarkt will also have a new “market room”, an attractive entrance with a wide range of regional and seasonal products. The flowering and accessible roof garden will be a special highlight. The farmers’ market will also be retained and will be integrated into the redesign.
The plans for the first implementation phase of the extensive project are now available to the local council’s planning committee for resolution at the June meeting. Due to its large scope, the project will be structurally implemented in several phases. The conversion of the current parking lot into a modern green space and the design of the country party square are scheduled to begin in the fall. Only after these parts of the project have been implemented by the end of 2025 will the flea market area be designed.
“The greening of the Naschmarkt parking lot is one of our most important projects when it comes to reducing inner-city heat islands. But at the same time it is also one of the most challenging and complex to plan. In particular, the static framework conditions on the over 100-year-old Vienna River curve on which the project area runs make the conversion a highly demanding technical and complex project,” says planning councilor Ulli Sima.
“With this project we are sending a strong signal for a greener and more livable city. The redesign of the Naschmarkt parking lot is not only a benefit for the cityscape, but also a significant step towards improving the quality of stay and combating urban overheating. The unsealing and creation of generous green and open spaces reflects the times and is a decision with a major positive impact,” emphasizes NEOS Vienna urban development spokeswoman Selma Arapovic.
Citizen wishes become reality
The planned redesign of the current parking lot was preceded by an intensive process. “It started with broad citizen participation, which brought very clear results. “The citizens wanted a green, consumption-free place to linger, space for creative things and regional products as well as the preservation of the flea market,” says deputy district leader Julia Lessacher, summarizing the residents’ concerns.
Building on the results of this citizen participation, numerous basic studies, a Europe-wide ideas competition and the master plan resulting from a subsequent planning process, at the end of last year the city presented the winning project of the international realization competition by the architecture firm Mostlikely and DND, which was chosen by an independent jury.
Naschmarkt parking lot: asphalt desert becomes a sea of flowers
Just as defined in the master plan, to the west of the Chain Bridge, i.e. at the current Naschmarkt parking lot, the green space and the flea market will share the spacious area in the future. With around 90 newly planted trees and lush greenery, an urban, green, well-cooled and open-to-use open space is now to be created where there are currently cars parked and a heat hotspot in the summer. Due to the Vienna River arch below, tree planting is only possible in certain areas. The complex static and building physics conditions require complex measures underground. Possible loads are limited and only allow certain installation heights. The position of trees must also be precisely coordinated. It is important to determine statically permissible positions and take appropriate technical protective measures. Furthermore, there are major challenges in areas of U4 overplating. Large areas of greenery should also be made possible here.
In the middle of the square, extensive green areas and grass beds will provide unsealing and cooling. With the planting of colorful perennials and a blooming urban forest mixture, the now desolate concrete area is transformed into a sea of flowers for all the senses.
The extensive greening measures not only promise to cool down everyone who passes here, but also have an impact beyond that: the cold air corridor running there along the Vienna River is also intended to be strengthened.
Historical Vienna river bulge requires technical mastery
Due to the historic vault, implementing the climate-friendly transformation of the heat hotspot requires a lot of technical effort. To protect the curvature, a second sealing membrane is drawn over the entire area, thereby creating the appropriate static conditions to replace the heat-sensitive asphalt with a light-colored, heat-repellent paving.
The tension between the historical construction and the climate-friendly future plans leads to further challenges: The approximately 90 planned trees will provide cooling and greenery in the future, but will require extensive additional measures. In order to protect the vault from large-scale root spread, a large reinforced concrete slab including a root-resistant film with protective concrete shields the vault. Additional lateral support measures must be taken for the U4 structure.
New foyer for the Naschmarkt with market room and farmers’ market
As stated in the master plan, the project area was expanded to include the area of the country party square, east of Kettenbrückengasse. The winning project envisages a new “market space” on this same area.
It is a market that can be used all year round for connoisseurs and those with a sweet tooth, including a blooming roof garden that invites you to linger. This solution gives the Naschmarkt an attractive entrance from the west and at the same time a worthy, second architectural finish. Because while it has a clearly defined entrance coming from the Karlsplatz side, it runs towards the Chain Bridge without any noticeable completion, it literally “runs out”.
“With the redesigned foyer, the Naschmarkt now receives an appropriate urban development finish that develops the historical structure into a homogeneous overall figure,” says Franz Kobermaier, head of MA 19 Architecture and Urban Design. In the future, everything here will revolve around regional and seasonal products. Of course, the current farmers’ market will remain fully intact as specified in the master plan. Stand space will continue to be available to farmers in the same size as before.
Green roof garden with a view of the historic Naschmarkt
The green roof garden with lush perennials and flowers will be a special highlight of the new market space. Beds with herbs, drought-tolerant plants and grasses are created. Flowering bushes with rock carnation, hawkweed, etc. become a fragrant pasture for insects. The planted roof garden will be public and freely accessible and will offer a unique all-round view of the historic Naschmarkt and the newly designed green area between the Wienzeilen.
Winning project as a result of an extensive process
The development process for this project, which is now about to be implemented, began in 2021 and was supported by the comprehensive involvement of citizens and experts. Broad-based citizen participation set the key requirements for the redesign plans with the topics of greenery, preservation of the flea market, space for regional products and sufficient consideration of consumption-free zones. Based on this, an EU-wide ideas competition was launched. The 9 winners of the competition then developed a joint master plan for the large heat area in a cooperative process. The master plan subsequently served as the basis for the implementation competition, from which the Mostlikely architectural firm and DnD Landschaftsplanung ultimately emerged as winners in autumn 2023. Construction on the first phases is now scheduled to begin in the fall.
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