10/07/2008: EXPO REAL
Mayor of Dortmund Dr. Gerhard Langemeyer unveils model of “Neues Thier-Areal“ +++ Prague: 100th ECE Center opening in November +++ Hanover: City at the River Leine gets “Green“ Center +++
Premiere at Europe’s biggest real estate exhibition EXPO REAL in Munich: At midday today, the Mayor of Dortmund Dr. Gerhard Langemeyer unveiled a model of the new shopping center “Stadtgalerie“ at the ECE exhibition stand. Realization of the shopping center on the Thier-Areal is planned until 2011. Together with Alexander Otto, CEO of the ECE management, and architect Kaspar Kraemer, Langemeyer took a first look at the miniature of the facade. Architect Office Kaspar Kraemer Architekten BDA, Cologne, had won the facade competition for the project last June.
Mayor Dr. Gerhard Langemeyer: “Already from this model you can see the outstanding architectural quality of the buildings. I am especially enthusiastic about the view into the Stadtgalerie, at the “house within the house“ construction. With the Neues Thier-Areal, Dortmund is enriched by a really special feature.“
Alexander Otto, head of ECE: “From the urban planning perspective, the model impressively shows the outstanding integration of the Stadtgalerie. The perfect connection to the Westenhellweg and other surrounding streets as well as the spectacular inner space immediately catch one’s eye. We can hardly wait for construction to begin.“
Hamburg project developer ECE is planning an entirely new shopping center concept on the Dortmund Thier-Areal with direct connection to the retail strip Westenhellweg. On a retail space of approximately 33,000 square meters, the Neues Thier-Areal will offer room for around 150 specialty shops and catering businesses. A special feature of the ECE concept is a “house within the house“ with a culture terrace for events and gastronomy on the upper level in the Stadtgalerie’s center as well as a “culture garden“ on the green spaces at the “Wall“. The well-established and popular brewery “Hövels Hausbrauerei“ will be retained and integrated into the overall ensemble.
According to the current state of planning, construction work on Thier-Areal is to start in the summer of 2009. ECE is planning to open the shopping center in the fall 2011.
100th ECE Center
For ECE, this year’s Expo Real is entirely under the sign of the number 100, as with the opening of the Arkády Pankrác in Prague this November ECE is going to take into operation its 100th shopping center. 26 more centers are in the process of construction or planning in Germany as well as in Middle and Eastern Europe. In the year 2008 alone, the Stadtgalerie Hameln, the first construction section of the Limbecker Platz in Essen, the Stadtgalerie Passau and the Stadtgalerie Heilbronn were opened. On October 15, Ernst-August-Galerie Hanover will follow, and after that the Forum Debrecen in Hungary, the Arkády Pankrác in Prague and the Golden Hall in Athens. In the process of construction are, among others, the Golden Ring Gallery in Yaroslavl/Russia, the Marmara Park in Istanbul, the Stadtgalerie Schweinfurt, the Saar-Galerie Saarbrücken, the OZAS-Galerie in Vilnius, the Rathaus-Galerie in Leverkusen, the Rhein-Galerie in Ludwigshafen and the Serdika Center in Sofia. As for its sectors office, traffic and industry, ECE has also been highly successful, for example with the realization of the ThyssenKrupp quarters in Essen, or the Europe Tower in Sofia, which is going to be the country’s highest building.
First “green“ center in Hanover
Especially the Ernst-August-Galerie in Hanover represents a prime example for resource-saving development and sustainable operation: For instance, in this center electric mall cooling can be completely dispensed with for the first time thanks to an intelligent ventilation system. A 250 kilowatt photovoltaic system on the center’s roof helps generate energy, and the center is operated with certified green power – only to name a few of the various measures. Meanwhile, green power has become a standard in most ECE centers. For more information see: www.ece.de/nachhaltigkeit
