With the success of the competition in cooperation with Grafon Architects from Ireland, the foundation stone for the future university quarter has been laid.
A new university quarter is to be built on the Dreispitz. In future, it will be home to the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Economics.
In June 2021, the landowner CMS and Swiss Prime Site Immobilien, as the participating building leaseholder, invited tenders for an urban planning study contract for the development of the new university quarter in Dreispitz. First and foremost, an innovative and attractive university education campus is to be created. In addition, other uses such as housing, neighbourhood services for daily needs, gastronomy, childcare facilities, leisure facilities and commerce are to be established. A building for the Swiss Circus Center Basel is also planned.
Together with the university, a sustainable, attractive and lively quarter with high-quality and climate-relevant outdoor and green spaces is to be created. Together with the FHNW School of Art and Design and the planned FHNW School of Business, the new university location will form a true educational cluster on the Dreispitz.
The assessment committee unanimously agreed to consider the proposals of the Grafton Architects/Blaser Architekten team in the study parameters as a basis for further planning steps. What convinced the assessment committee most about this proposal was that the character of Dreispitz would be further developed and that a continuous green area would be provided. Existing structures are to be reused wherever possible and the disused railway tracks are to be incorporated. According to the report, the planning team presents an exceptionally intelligent, aesthetic and sustainable approach that deals with the existing and responds to today's challenges of a people- and climate-friendly urban development.
On the basis of the study, the further planning steps and the negotiations for building rights are now to be prepared. It is expected that the new University Quarter will be visible from 2030 and that the building will be handed over to the University of Basel as the user.
