Curiosity and innovation as the starting point for the creative process.
Since founding our office our work has been informed by clear basic principles: on the one hand a commitment to finding the best solution.
In our opinion, it is not possible to produce “only landscape architecture” because this contains and generates many other challenges that demand comprehensive solutions. These include social, architectural, political, cultural and artistic aspects.
Two further basic principles of our work are curiosity and innovation. We are constantly curious to discover different and new ways of tackling our tasks. We plan and create for nothing less than the future. Hence repeating the already familiar is not an option. Of course this is often the more difficult path but we follow it on our own initiative. Ultimately, it is the result that counts.
Our work is based on sound experience. Since 50 years now we have been the driving force behind a diverse range of developments and have provided “thought-provoking inspiration” and optimised procedures and methods for the realisation of innovative projects in Germany, Europe and in Chinese and Arab regions. Sustainability, identity, poetry, preservation and also the redevelopment of both our natural and built environment are important performance parameters.
We design and plan with an interdisciplinary team of more than 50 motivated employees and always allow scope for something new.
In particular the different qualities of those involved, the specific demands of the task and the craftsman-artistic inspiration enables us to create new, convincing designs for living environments. We are not interested in complaisance but in making precise statements. At the end of the day, our services aim to be an enrichment – first and foremost for the user.
With the URBAN GREEN CHARTA, sustainable planning becomes an integral pillar of the projects and work of WES. The three dimensions of sustainability - economic, social and ecological - are intertwined and complement the standards of design and construction quality that have characterized WES LandscapeArchitecture for over 50 years.
The economic viability of projects is becoming ever more closely linked to sustainability criteria. Our URBAN GREEN CHARTA introduces contact persons for the five fields of action of sustainable building: design, methodology, materials, biodiversity and water, who specifically strengthen our project teams and are available to you as consultants.
The contents of the URBAN GREEN CHARTA were discussed at length, intensively and across all hierarchical levels of the office. Dialogue remains an essential element of the charter, with the aim of developing it further and making our environment more resilient together. We invite you to take part in this discussion and join us in the search for alternative building materials and construction methods.
Link: URBAN GREEN CHARTA
The spectrum of our successfully implemented projects ranges from large-scale master plans from the Überseestadt Bremen or the West Bund in Shanghai to urban spaces and squares such as the Magellan or Marco Polo terraces in Hamburg´s HafenCity to cultural and historical sites such as the Esterwegen memorial. Urban planning of open spaces for new urban areas such as the VIERTEL ZWEI Plus in Vienna-Krieau or the development of the Industrial Park Sports Center in Suzhou round off the complex range of tasks of the office.
Continuous competition wins confirm the quality of our work. Whether the 1st prize for the redesign of the pedestrian zone Meidlinger Hauptstraße in Vienna, the 1st prize for the Marketplace Bad Lauchstädt and for the exclusive Parkhotel THE FONTENAY in Hamburg or a 1st prize for the Süd Bund in Shanghai - the success of the competitions speaks for itself.
The jury of the international book "Made in Germany - Best of Contemporary Architecture" chose WES LandscapeArchitecture as the best German landscape architecture firm. Tim Richardson counts the office in his book "Avant Gardeners" among the 50 visionaries of contemporary landscape design.