Rhine Terrace

Basel | 2018

Our work at the Novartis Campus in Basel transforms a former industrial site into a contemporary urban parkland that aims to draw the research community within the Campus towards the River Rhine and enhance campus life. The design of the topography and planting creates a riparian landscape which encourages exploration and serves as an important ecological corridor.

The scheme dissolves the Campus grid into a natural landscape that provides a sequence of intimate terraces and outdoor rooms that allow its users to relax amongst a rich planting scheme of perennials, ferns, and grasses. The Tree Avenue and Promenade, underplanted with a Salix and Cornus mix, extends across the middle meadow and amphitheatre, providing varied colour throughout the year. A trimmed grass lawn forms the horizon against which a panorama of the River Rhine can be seen in the distance.