Regeneration of the Carl Zeiss factory Jena Germany with DEGW
Masterplan for the regeneration of the Carl Zeiss factory at the centre of the historic University town of Jenain Thuringia in the former East Germany.
Carl Zeiss established Jena as a centre for the research and production of precision optics in 1846. With the formation of Eastern Germany after the WWII Zeiss manufacturing operations were split between Jena and Oberkochen in the West. Following reunification in 1989 the western company received the trademark and traditional optics products and the Treuhandanstalt Berlin privatised the Eastern VEB Carl Zeiss under the direction of CEO Lothar Späth, former prime minister of Baden-Württemberg. The privatisation involved halving the workforce of 32,000 (population Jena 100,000). Späth formed Carl Zeiss East into a new company, Jenoptik with a vision to grow Jena into a centre for the research and production of optoelectronics and micro technologies. DEGW worked closely with Lothar Späth and many stakeholders to develop a masterplan for the renewal and reuse of the former factory works as an integrated, urban campus for the new industries.
The proposal retains and refurbishes many of the historic factory buildings and augments with new adaptable work- and light production space for start-up companies. Facilities were also provided for the Friedrich-Schiller-university, to reinforce the historic link between the Zeiss Hauptwerk and academia and provide additional teaching space for the new optical and digital technologies. At the heart of the scheme was the Goethe Galerie a glass covered street in the tradition of the 19th galleria, providing a sheltered retail environment to amble and socialise.
The regeneration was completed in 2000 and now alongside Jenoptik there are 90 companies in Jena in the areas of optics, optoelectronics, nano- and micro technologies and automation.
