From ideas contest to workshop process
The area A3 (formerly “Raum für Ideen” or “Space for Ideas”) is located directly on the future Manfred-Rommel-Platz, is directly located at Manfred-Rommel-Platz, where we have the skylights of the central station. It links the square with the newly developed Europaquartier and acts as the lead-in to the new Stuttgart Rosenstein district – and as such plays a key role in the planning. In fall 2025, a cooperative workshop process was launched to explore development opportunities for the future special building block A3 at Stuttgart's new main station.
Expectations for the area are high: with its location and good accessibility, it is intended to serve as a link between the surrounding neighborhoods in the future and to be used by the citizens of Stuttgart for a variety of activities, encounters, recreation, and cultural offerings. Overall, the uses on site should create added value for the people. A public urban building block with a distinctive identity is to be created at this location in Stuttgart.
Initial ideas were considered in 2024 as part of an international ideas contest. The contest sought concrete proposals for the use of this central area. The aim was to find as broad and open a range of visions for the “space for ideas” as possible. The ideas conetst did not seek architectural designs, but rather served to obtain concrete ideas for the use of the space. The cooperative workshop process A3, starting in fall 2025, ties in directly with this result – but takes it from the idea phase to the first implementation phase.
Why a workshop procedure?
The state capital Stuttgart, represented by the Office for Urban Planning and Housing, is conducting the workshop process to explore development opportunities and potential for the future special building block A3 at Stuttgart's new main station. From the overview of the planning concepts of the four interdisciplinary teams, the city of Stuttgart hopes to gain a guiding principle for the future identity and the best and most sustainable utilization concept. The award-winning ideas from the Space for Ideas Contest served as the basis for this.
The process takes on its workshop character through multiple direct exchanges between the teams themselves and with the accompanying advisory committee. This dialogue-oriented, cooperative approach builds on the good practice of the previous open international ideas conetst. The goal is a cooperatively developed result that takes urban society, nature, and mobility into equal consideration: not an individual solution, but part of a living whole.
Workshop procedure
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The kick-off workshop took place on November 3, 2025. During this workshop, the teams and the advisory board introduced themselves and got to know each other. The participants familiarised themselves with the planning area and its context and were given an introduction to the Stuttgart Rosenstein project and the framework conditions of the task. In addition, the results of the international ideas contest (Space for Ideas) were presented by the eight prize winners from the five idea groups. The teams and the advisory board discussed the task and clarified any outstanding questions.
![2025 11 03 Werkstattverfahren A3 Areal Get together 0201]()
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The teams develop their designs in the various phases of the workshop process. The approaches are refined in two processing phases and, following an interim workshop on January 23, 2026, are elaborated in detail. In this interim workshop, the participating teams also exchange ideas with the advisory committee again. The advisory committee will then summarise the results of the discussions and provide individual and general guidance and recommendations for further work in the second phase. This phase will last four weeks and end on February 27, 2026.
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The final workshop will take place on February 27, 2026. The teams will present the results of their work. Afterwards, the advisory committee will meet in closed session, award prizes for the best projects, and draft a summary recommendation on how to proceed for the city of Stuttgart.
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Die Ergebnisse der Werkstattphase werden im Rahmen einer feierlichen Ausstellungseröffnung am 3. März 2026 im Ausstellungsraum Stuttgarat Rosenstein in der Eichstraße 9, Stuttgart präsentiert. Die Preise werden an diesem Abend ebenfalls bekannt gegeben. Im Anschluss werden die Arbeiten für einige Wochen in der Ausstellung zu sehen sein.
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Once the workshop process has been completed, this recommendation will be submitted to the municipal council. Based on this decision, the award-winning utilisation concept will form the basis for a feasibility study by the relevant departments and serve as a starting point for the search for a viable operating and stakeholder concept.
The four planning teams
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The teams
The German-Austrian team from Berlin and Vienna is known for bold, site-specific concepts that focus on encounters and exchange.
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The teams
TEAM PPAG | OLA | Project GmbH understands architecture as a hedonistic synthesis of diverse desires, a connection between city and nature, with plants as powerful design elements: living architecture as a model for the future.
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The teams
The team designs, plans, and builds buildings, urban structures, public spaces, and open spaces for compact, socially and functionally mixed, multimodally connected, productive, circularly organized, and climate-adaptive cities.
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The teams
The goal of Rosenstein2050 in the workshop process is to develop a concept that enriches people's lives in the long term, offers meaningful innovations, and provides cultural added value beyond mere functionality.
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The teams
The German-Austrian team from Berlin and Vienna is known for bold, site-specific concepts that focus on encounters and exchange.
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The teams
The team designs, plans, and builds buildings, urban structures, public spaces, and open spaces for compact, socially and functionally mixed, multimodally connected, productive, circularly organized, and climate-adaptive cities.
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The teams
TEAM PPAG | OLA | Project GmbH understands architecture as a hedonistic synthesis of diverse desires, a connection between city and nature, with plants as powerful design elements: living architecture as a model for the future.
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The teams
The goal of Rosenstein2050 in the workshop process is to develop a concept that enriches people's lives in the long term, offers meaningful innovations, and provides cultural added value beyond mere functionality.