Project 10: Sedlitz Lagoon Village

Living in the Lagoon

Due to its size, multiple bays, central position, and good accessibility, the Lake Sedlitz is suitable for a wide variety of uses. As well as developing a tourist industry for the lake, parts of it are to be used for residential purposes. The planned Lagoon Village will be an innovative and attractive waterside neighbourhood.

INITIAL SITUATION

In the twentieth century, Sedlitz (now a part of Senftenberg) was virtually surrounded by open-cast mines. To the north, it was encroached on by the »Meuro« open-cast, with »Ilse-Ost« and »Tatkraft« growing ever closer from the south. Several Sedlitz neighbourhoods were bulldozered. Where they once stood, the Lake Ilse and the Lake Sedlitz are presently being flooded. The Lake Sedlitz extends across three former open-cast mines, making it large even by Lusatian Lake Land standards. It has numerous bays and peninsulas that give it a fascinating shape.

THE PROJECT’S PROGRESS

The Lagoon Village – a residential development with unique architecture and the latest environmentally friendly energy production – is planned right on the edge of Sedlitz, in a protected bay of the nascent lake. The idea originated in discussions in 2000 between representatives of the town of Senftenberg, the district of Sedlitz, and the IBA. An early feasibility study commissioned by the city of Sedlitz in 2005 suggested a possible structure and site for the Lagoon Village – one of the few places in the Lusatian Lake Land where living directly next to the water will be possible. The plans for the Lagoon Village were refined over the next few years, until in 2007 it was finally included in the Sedlitz village development project and the city of Senftenberg’s land use plan.

Based on a feasibility study, the plan involved developing a lagoon-like area of flat water south of Sedlitz in tandem with the LMBV’s restoration work and flooding. Three fingers of natural land (not embankments) over 500 metres long and 500 metres wide will remain standing in the lagoon. Together with the connected part of the bank, these fingers will provide about nine hectares of building ground for the Lagoon Village. In 2009, a working group made up of the IBA, the city of Senftenberg, the community of Sedlitz, and the Zweckverband Lausitzer Seenland Brandenburg discussed several possible plans and how all those involved were to proceed. Visualisations were created to help find an investment. The same committee started work on a development concept for the urban plan and for ecological supply and waste disposal – the basis for the development plan the Lagoon Village would need.

FUTURE PROSPECTS

With its new way of living on the new lakes – plus architecture of the highest quality and modern environmental technology – the Lagoon Village will be enriching the Lusatian Lake Land and the whole region. It should be ready by 2015 at the latest, when the Lake Sedlitz will reach its final level. The Lagoon Village is proof that the future Lusatian Lake Land offers opportunities for new and attractive kinds of living as well as tourist attractions – and will also help to consolidate the village of Sedlitz, attracting new visitors and offering locals as well as tourists new perspectives. In future, the project will be coordinated by the Zweckverband Lausitzer Seenland Brandenburg.
www.lausitzerseenland.de