Multifunctional sports hall with MobilityHub

The construction of a new multifunctional sports arena is the key building project within the Soers Sports Park for which the City of Aachen is responsible. With this project, Aachen is strengthening its profile as a center for elite sports in various ball sports (basketball, handball, volleyball, etc.) and, at the same time, is pursuing the stated goal of creating this arena complex as sports infrastructure for everyone. For this subproject of the Soers Sports Park, it is necessary to establish guidelines for the sports-specific usage program and the scale of the multifunctional sports arena as a basis for the next planning steps.

To this end, the City of Aachen, in collaboration with the firm Karres en Brands (Hilversum, Netherlands), conducted an in-depth planning study of the multifunctional sports hall and MobilityHub in the spring | summer of 2024. The primary goal of this in-depth study was to identify, at the master plan level, three variants for a multifunctional sports hall—Standard (S), Standard Plus (S+), Maximum variant (L)—and, in particular, to quantify and visually illustrate the potential for open spaces in their immediate urban surroundings. The smaller the building footprint of the multifunctional sports hall and Mobility Hub, the more opportunities arise for new, freely accessible outdoor exercise and sports facilities.

The focus of this in-depth analysis was on scenario and land-use analysis; it did not yet explicitly address the detailed planning of outdoor facilities. This applies both to the final placement of open spaces and to the specific sports-related profile of the potential areas depicted for informal sports. Both aspects will be finalized in the next planning phase.

Standard variant (S)

A new multifunctional sports arena built according to the "Standard" scenario will strengthen Aachen’s sports infrastructure in a sustainable manner. In the future, elite sports in the city and the Aachen metropolitan region will have permanent access to a sports arena for major national and, where applicable, international sporting events, including championships. In the area of recreational sports, the “Standard” scenario explicitly addresses the need—identified as part of sports development planning—for additional multi-purpose sports halls to accommodate the clubs’ frequent training and competition activities.
The “Standard” variant encompasses a gross floor area of 7,500 m². With a building footprint of 8,100 m² for the entire complex (multifunctional sports hall + MobilityHub), this opens up a potential open space area of 17,650 m². Of this, up to 6,400 m² could be designated for recreational sports. In a compact layout, the facility could accommodate several courts for beach volleyball, streetball, or padel. Likewise, all types of small-scale sports facilities (fitness, calisthenics, bouldering, etc.) are possible. The “Standard” variant does not provide for any sports use on the roofs of the multifunctional sports hall or the Mobility Hub.

Maximum variant (L)

In the maximum version, the new multifunctional sports hall already lives up to its role as a defining building on the site of the former police headquarters and a flagship for the Soers sports park thanks to its size and power. Despite its location in the "second row", it will also make the sports park visible from Krefelder Strasse. From a sporting perspective, the possibilities of a four-court sports hall are rated particularly highly in view of the need for 3.4 additional multi-court halls calculated for Aachen as part of the current sports development planning. The functional modules "training and further education in sport" and "health and prevention" also offer the potential to further develop the multifunctional sports hall beyond pure sporting activity as a place of innovation.
The maximum variant comprises a gross floor area of 10,600 m². With a building footprint of the entire property (multifunctional sports hall + MobilityHub) of 12,200 m2 , this leaves an open space potential of 13,600 m2 . This is too small to be profiled for non-organized sports. Instead, there is the possibility of activating larger parts of the roof of the multifunctional sports hall - including the size of a small playing field - for sports use.

Standard plus variant (S+)

Improving running and jumping skills benefits numerous sports. By adding the “Running and Jumping” functional module, the multifunctional sports hall can offer training opportunities suitable for this cross-disciplinary activity and, above all, for track and field. By offering a competition-grade indoor training facility, Aachen would create a unique selling point of great significance for both the city and the Aachen metropolitan region. The integration of the “Climbing” functional module will expand the sports infrastructure to include climbing and bouldering—a sport that consistently enjoys very high demand among Aachen’s population across all age groups and skill levels. A “Sports Office” will be located directly within the multifunctional sports hall—that is, the place where the highest daily foot traffic is expected in the future at Sportpark Soers—and will provide space for the operation and management of the new sports infrastructure.