HRS stops planning for Villa Wiesental in St. Gallen
HRS Real Estate AG cannot realize the planned construction of a residential and commercial building near the Wilhelminian style villa "Wiesental". The City Council of St. Gallen has rejected the design plan because the planned 25-meter-high building does not meet the requirements for urban excellence.
The dilapidated Gründerzeit villa forms the prelude to the historic row of Rosenbergstrasse north of the St. Gallen train station area. The current owner of the site, HRS Real Estate AG, held an architectural competition in 2012, from which the winning project "Stadtkrone" by the architectural firm Caruso St John emerged. The plan was for a new development with a dominant building and the demolition of Villa Wiesental. The city council subsequently decided not to proceed with this project. Instead, a project was to be prepared with the preservation of Villa Wiesental, with a new building on the vacant lot area.
In the fall of 2014, HRS submitted the "Wiesental" design plan to the city council. According to the plans of the Zurich architectural firm Pfister Schiess Tropeano, an eight-story extension was to be built on the old building to be renovated. However, the Expert Council for Urban Development found that this project lacked the required "urban design excellence" and informed the HRS that it did not want to initiate the procedure for the design plan. The proposed hierarchy between the new building and the villa was not correct.
HRS has informed the city to refrain from initiating the procedure for the Wiesental design plan and to stop investing in the development of the site for the time being. (ah)
