Ressort Presse

• 15.04.2026

The development of the Duisburg campus of the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) has reached another milestone. On April 13, the Building and Real Estate Management Agency of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (BLB NRW), together with the university and the city, presented the designs resulting from the multi-phase workshop process. The winning design has now been selected.

The Duisburg university campus is set to become more structured and attractive. As part of the workshop process conducted in parallel with the New Master Plan for University Construction, urban planning concepts were developed to serve as the foundation for the new buildings outlined in the New Master Plan. Building on this, the goal is to preserve existing buildings on the Duisburg university campus, meet the university’s future space requirements in a sustainable manner, and specifically improve the quality of the campus environment.

After an intensive review of the three submitted planning proposals, the jury reached a decision: The design by the Cologne-based firm “ASTOC ARCHITECTS AND PLANNERS GmbH” and the landscape planning firm “Die Planergruppe” was selected as the winner. In its reasoning, the jury particularly highlighted the successful integration of the university’s teaching and research functions with the neighborhood. The focus is on spatial organization, the quality of the environment, and a differentiated system of central and decentralized gathering places.

Collaboration Among All Stakeholders

Minister of Science Ina Brandes: “The New Master Plan introduced by the Ministry of Culture and Science is accelerating the pace of university construction. Previously, many planning, review, and approval processes took place sequentially among numerous stakeholders, often involving lengthy review cycles. Now, the process is handled in parallel from the outset with all parties involved in the construction, saving up to 30 percent in time and, consequently, money. In addition to the New Master Plan, the workshop approach used here makes the process significantly faster and more cost-effective than, for example, an architectural competition. I am very grateful that, in addition to the key players from the Building and Real Estate Management Department and the University of Duisburg-Essen, users and residents have also participated so constructively in this process.”

Since its launch in February 2026, the three teams—comprising urban planning and open space planning experts—have developed concepts for the further development of the Duisburg university campus through intensive dialogue. In three workshop forums, the planning ideas were discussed and continuously refined in dialogue with UDE students and staff as well as local residents. A key objective was not to view buildings in isolation, but to develop the campus as a coherent, comprehensive urban planning concept. The focus was on further developing and complementing the existing infrastructure while meeting the demands of modern teaching and research.

Ulf Richter, the Chancellor of the University of Duisburg-Essen, describes the winning design for the further development of the university campus. “The potential for campus development is enormous: The selected design embodies our identity as a campus-based university. Once realized, this project will provide our students and staff with excellent conditions for modern learning, working, and research, as well as a high quality of life on campus. This makes it all the more important that the perspectives and input of the university community and local residents were incorporated into the process from the very beginning. Our vision is thus guided by the needs of the people who use the campus.”

What’s next?

To develop a comprehensive urban planning concept for the campus, the concept by the planning firm ASTOC—now awarded by the jury—will serve as a guiding framework and foundation for further development. The firm has been commissioned with the subsequent detailed design phase to elaborate the urban planning concept in detail.

“Our goal is to develop a campus that strategically builds upon the existing structure and unleashes its full potential for a high-performing, open, and future-oriented university. The award-winning planning team impressed with its thoughtful approach to the existing building stock as well as the coherent placement of structures that can be realistically implemented. The design precisely implements the brief of the workshop process and fits seamlessly into the master plan. In the upcoming detailed design phase, we look forward to collaborating with the planning team to adapt the design in a targeted and urbanistically sensible manner to the on-site structural and ecological conditions,” says Till Neschen, Head of the Duisburg Branch of BLB NRW.

The workshop process was initiated as an urban and open-space planning qualification process for strategic campus development and is a complementary part of the “New Master Plan.”

“The newly designed master plan not only sets the direction for the appeal and future of the University of Duisburg-Essen and Duisburg as a center of science, but also for the urban development around the campus in Neudorf. “I am therefore very pleased that the neighboring residents of Neudorf were also included and involved in the workshop process,” says the Mayor of the City of Duisburg, Sören Link.

Key Features of the Designs

ASTOC’s winning design envisions two gathering places for students and staff on the campus in the future. One is to be built in the northern area for the humanities and another in the south for mechanical and electrical engineering. During the workshop process, the planning firms CKSA GmbH and Uniola AG Landscape Architecture (2nd place) and DMSW Architects and ora PartG mbB (3rd place) were able to demonstrate through their designs just how diverse a campus can be. Exciting ideas included a central campus hub with plenty of spaces for gathering, as well as a campus thoroughfare connecting the northern and southern parts of the campus.

A photo gallery of the public presentation can be found at:

https://www.uni-due.de/aktuell/2026-04-13-bilderstrecke-campusentwicklung-forum-3.php

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25 Years of the Building and Real Estate Management Agency of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia:

Over the past quarter-century, the BLB NRW has evolved into a modern real estate service provider and is the owner and lessor of virtually all of the state’s real estate. With approximately 4,000 buildings and a rental area of about 10.3 million square meters, the BLB NRW manages one of the largest real estate portfolios in Europe. Its services include development and planning, construction and modernization, as well as the management and sale of technically and architecturally highly complex properties. In addition, as part of the Federal Building Authority, BLB NRW plans and implements the civil and military construction projects of the Federal Republic of Germany in North Rhine-Westphalia. BLB NRW employs more than 3,100 staff members at eight locations. For more information, visit: www.blb.nrw.de

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In the photo

from left to right: Till Neschen (Branch Manager, BLB NRW), Sören Link (Mayor of Duisburg), Ina Brandes (Minister of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia), Ulf Richter (Chancellor, University of Duisburg-Essen), Prof. Dr. Barbara Albert (Rector, University of Duisburg-Essen) © UDE, Event Photographer

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Print-quality images are available here:
https://membox.nrw.de/index.php/s/WanYJEbBFtIpeTT
Password: blbnrw
(Note: When using the images, please include the following copyright notice: © UDE, Eventfotograf.in)

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Media contact: BLB NRW

BLB NRW, Duisburg Branch
Liane Karsten
Email: presse@blb.nrw.de
Phone: +49 203 98 711 605
Mobile: +49 152 22 695 605

Media contact: University of Duisburg-Essen

Astrid Bergmeister
Press Spokesperson and Head of the Press Department
Email: presse@uni-due.de
Phone: +49 203 37 92430