Individual Colour Design with Recycled Concrete

Residents’ cars are parked in underground garages so that the public space can be used largely free of traffic. This suited landscape architect Dietmar Gutermann of 365 ° Freiraum + Umwelt very well, as it allowed greening to take center stage in the planning. The planting thus became a defining element of the neighborhood – also at the request of the municipality.

Finding the perfect solution for the paved areas required a fair amount of creativity upfront in terms of material selection and the production of a special range of colors and sizes. “The facades of the apartment buildings are clad in various shades of yellow-brown, as specified by a previous competition,” explains Gutermann. This did not make selecting a suitable paving material easy. The landscape architect then described to Petra Kling, area manager at Braun-Steine, his desire for a paving surface that would harmonize with as many facade colors as possible. “This vision could not be fulfilled with a single shade,” says Kling, who, following the on-site visit, immediately coordinated the idea of matching brown and beige tones directly with the production team.

Custom-made using a proprietary mix design

In the family-owned company’s creative workshop, a mix design was developed in four lighter and darker variations. “The aggregate contains a special moraine material, making it a custom-made product with its own mix design, which we used to start trial production—the paving itself contains a high proportion of recycled concrete,” explains Kling. During the on-site sampling of a small area in the neighborhood, Dietmar Gutermann, Mayor Manfred Härle, and a municipal official were all present.

The product, with its variety of colors and shapes, impressed both the planner and the client. The paving was subsequently manufactured in four color shades and various sizes: Six formats were created for the sidewalk, as well as two formats for the longitudinal lawn joint stones with a Vario function, which were used for the multifunctional areas in the same color scheme.

Multifunctional – in many ways

The north-south boulevards are 6 m wide and feature a 2 m wide barrier-free sidewalk made from this special paving edition. This is followed by a 4-meter-wide multifunctional strip planted with honey locusts and American ash trees as climate-friendly tree species, as well as drought-tolerant perennials in mixed plantings. Benches and bike racks are also included.

In consultation with the property owners and the mayor, trees were also planted on the opposite side of the boulevard to narrow the roadway. The visitor parking spaces, originally planned at an angle, were also converted into parallel parking spaces with grass pavers, which, due to the space saved, made it possible to create sidewalks on both sides. The trees have large root systems underground and are well-nourished by rainwater seeping into the 6-cm-wide joints of the paving. Additionally, the slopes of the sidewalk and roadway direct rainwater into the flower beds or toward the area of the longitudinal grass pavers.

As much unsealing as possible

“The wide vegetation joints in the paving also gave me the idea to plant selected geophytes that thrive on extensive green roofs and to sow a native wild herb mixture,” reports Gutermann.

The supply of local pollen and nectar also supports biodiversity. The wide, now green joints reliably allow rainwater to seep away and create a soft transition between the perennial and multifunctional areas. Due to evaporation from the plants within the joints, these sections heat up less in summer, thereby contributing to the quality of the outdoor environment. The sidewalks were laid with standard joint widths, making them easily accessible for wheelchairs, walkers, and strollers.

A harmonious interplay

The north-south axes of the neighborhood are sun-drenched, while the cross streets lie in the shade, which is why the variety of stones is also reflected in the shrub plantings here. The individual planting modules are repeated along the streets, just like the paving pattern. “There was a laying plan for the stones so that they could be installed without any cuts. In reality, however, there were still situations that required a cut,” explains Gutermann. The foreman from the contractor Fritz Müller GmbH, Garten- und Landschaftsbau in Weingarten, created templates to accommodate the variety of stone colors and sizes and to speed up the demanding laying work. The resulting pattern looks like a progressive graphic puzzle that can certainly keep pace with the varied planting.

Construction costs came in at around €1.5 million, thus remaining below the specified budget. “We had minor volume overlaps, the on-site gravel was usable, and because all the buildings were at the correct elevation, we were able to do without the planned drainage channels,” summarizes Gutermann, who successfully completed the project in May 2022 after approximately 16 months of construction.

Beton Bauteile 2026

The complete project report can also be read in the yearbook “Beton Bauteile 2026” (only in German). The yearbook is an inspiring reference work on extraordinary projects, aesthetics, and engineering with precast concrete elements.

You can purchase your copy online at the Bauverlag Shop and via this link: www.beton-bauteile.de.