AM Sand

Am Sand has developed over the past five decades as a concentration of public facilities set within a rural landscape. Schools, sports facilities, cultural institutions, senior housing, and retail have gradually accumulated here, yet the area has never fully functioned as a coherent centre. SANDbox transforms this fragmented collection of buildings and infrastructure into a new civic heart for Niederanven: a place where landscape, architecture, mobility, and public life come together.

The proposal takes inspiration from the municipality itself, which is structured as a constellation of distinct villages embedded within a larger landscape. Rather than imposing a single, uniform urban gesture, the masterplan introduces a series of complementary neighbourhoods, each shaped by its specific context, programme, and relationship to the landscape. Together, they create a diverse yet connected centre with housing, workplaces, culture, education, recreation, and everyday services within walking distance.

Landscape forms the underlying structure of the project. Existing topography, water flows, vegetation, and wind patterns define where and how development takes place. Four interconnected green corridors organise the site, supporting natural ventilation, stormwater management, biodiversity, shading, and thermal comfort while connecting the surrounding landscape directly into the centre. A largely car-free green heart brings together the major public buildings and creates a shared living room for the municipality.

The transformation is structured through a series of precise interventions. At Les Arcades, the existing cut hillside is repaired and reimagined as a terraced mixed-use landscape where retail, housing, workplaces, public spaces, and mobility infrastructure are integrated directly into the topography. New development areas introduce a wide variety of private and affordable housing, from compact residential clusters to landscape-oriented hillside typologies, while productive, commercial, craft, and office uses strengthen activity around the centre. Flexible building types allow programmes to adapt over time.

Mobility is reorganised to prioritise walking, cycling, and public transport. Surface parking is significantly reduced and consolidated within multifunctional mobility hubs, freeing valuable ground space for landscape and public life. Green lanes, shared streets, and new pedestrian and cycling links connect Am Sand internally and strengthen connections to the surrounding villages.

SANDbox is conceived as a framework for gradual transformation rather than a fixed end state. Development begins around the existing civic core and expands outward over time, while the landscape structure is established early so that trees, ecological systems, and public spaces can mature alongside the neighbourhood. The result is a resilient, adaptable, and distinctly local centre: a new kind of village heart for the future.

Program: Mixed use masterplan

Size: 11 ha

Location: Niederanven, Luxembourg

Client: Niederanven Municipality

Collaborators: 2001, LOLA, Roland Ribi & Associates

Status: Competition, completed

Team: Henning Stüben, Heechan Park, Kristen Van Haeren, Rosa Fuentes, Celine Kohlhaas