Heineken Site

The town of Schiltigheim possesses a considerable amount of industrial wasteland, including the Heineken site, the redevelopment of which is vital for its continued existence.

This is the background to the decision taken by the Hayter International Company, consultant to the CEO of Heineken, to commission AIM Hanemian Architects: what was the best thing to do with this site of approximately 41,000 square meters at the edge of the town and close to Strasburg.

First an inventory was made of the existing historic buildings to decide which to keep. These included the chimneys of the brewery, visible from the motorway and symbols of the town’s brewing industry. After an analysis of the urban factors, AIM Hanemian Architects divided up the vast site into three parts separated by three new roads.

The first road separated the industrial wasteland from the neighbouring cemetery. The resulting plot for redevelopment was scheduled for a variety of commercial activities: a large scale shopping centre, the site for a public park and office blocks, a multiplex cinema and a hotel. All of this would generate the financing of the real estate operation. The hotel is theme-based on beer, including a beer thalassotherapy and a casino.

The second road is lined by dwellings and residential blocks with shops and businesses on the ground floor. The apartments, both privately-owned and rented from the local authority, have glazed terrace gardens on the top floors. This central redevelopment area is where the necessary social amenities are sited (schools, crèches, sports facilities) and is reserved for the Schiltigheim community.

The third road allows for a harmonization with the pre-existing low-rise urban pattern of villas: here would be sited new town houses and three-storey apartment blocks. A museum of beer would also have its home here as well as a resited Fischerstub, the famous restaurant, on a big new plot of land.

In all 80,000 square meters of de-industrialized land are available for rede­velopment on this site. Thanks to the AIM Hanemian Architects project and feasibility study, the Schiltigheim local authority has given the go-ahead for the redevelopment of approximately 60,000 square meters.