ASTOC ARCHITECTS AND PLANNERS

With an oversized roundabout and its broad thoroughfares, the Klagesmarkt in Hannover is a location steeped in history that has served as a marketplace and the stage for major political events since the 14th century. ASTOC’s design reorganises the square on a human scale and creates vibrant interconnections with neighbouring districts. Today, this town square offers space for events as a pedestrianised zone and invites visitors to stroll. As part of the “Hannover City 2020+” inner city concept, the conversion of Klagesmarkt to a residential district of high urban quality represents the first building block which is to be followed by further such measures.

ASTOC’s urban planning design which shapes the entire public space between Steintor and Christuskirche “façade to façade” and rearranges it through the addition of two new blocks of buildings, carried the day. The town’s housing association set the ball rolling for realising the buildings with an architectural competition. The result is an urban block of exemplary density and mix of uses in which buildings differ markedly as the architects involved put their own individual stamp on the project. The removal of the roundabout and major traffic routes created space for a marketplace and conversion of the St. Nikolai cemetery to a neighbourhood park. The existing gravestones form a lapidarium with historical traces. The outline around the ruins of the cemetery chapel was brought to light again.