Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron has unveiled the masterplan proposal for the Paketposthalle (Parcel Post Hall) area in Munich, Germany. The 87,000-square-metre design scheme outlines a holistic concept that would incorporate landscape, infrastructure and housing. 

The overall masterplan will envisage an urban, inner-city quarter with a mix of housing, business premises and spaces for social and cultural activities. 

The Paketposthalle [Parcel Post Hall] is a historically listed 19,000-square-metre landmark building from the 1960s, will become the centre of a new quarter. Jacques 

"The Paketposthalle is an extraordinary example of engineering, which will be open to guests and the residents of Munich in its new function as a place of culture and encounter," said Jacques Herzog. 

"It will become the nucleus of a new, dense and mixed neighbourhood like the one in the centre of the city."

This new district hub will be clearly marked and widely recognisable as part of the urban landscape: the masterplan envisages placing two towers of around 155m high, with a geometric form derived from the sweeping curve of the Paketposthalle roof, thereby creating a specific point of reference within the city.

Around the hall, there will be a district of six-storey courtyard buildings, which will offer space for housing and commercial use. The studio draws a flexible urban typology that will form a dense urban context that contrasts with the scale of the hall and towers.

The Paketposthalle will continue to be used as a postal facility until around 2023. In the meantime, a development plan setting out the legal framework will be devised for the new quarter.

All images courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron

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