Niedersachsen+Bremen

At the final event of the FirmenGärten competition, representatives of the Verband Garten-, Landschafts- und Sportplatzbau Niedersachsen-Bremen e. V. (VGL Lower Saxony-Bremen), DEHOGA Lower Saxony and Bremen, the state associations of BUND and the Bund Deutscher Landschaftsarchitekten (BDLA) met on November 16, 2022. Over 60 applications reached the VGL Lower Saxony-Bremen, which launched the competition.

The best award for the overall ranking goes to

Dör'n Schapp in Vorwerk, Lower Saxony.

A further three top prizes went to:

Design function Ecological function Social function

Forsthaus Heiligenberg Radener Deele Farmhouse Café Sprengel

Special prizes were awarded for:

Quality of execution City garden Place of communication

Schrage Inn Staublau Café Coffee Garden Sülze

Over 60 applications with different outdoor facilities from Lower Saxony and Bremen in the hotel and restaurant industry reached the jury, which visited 21 gardens from August to September. For the first time, the FirmenGärten competition was held this year together with the DEHOGA regional associations of Lower Saxony and Bremen. Houses and companies from the hospitality industry were called upon to apply with their outdoor facilities. The patronage was assumed by the former Lower Saxony Environment Minister Olaf Lies and the Bremen Senator for Climate Protection, Environment, Mobility, Urban Development and Housing, Dr. Maike Schaefer. The competition is intended to demonstrate the integration and importance of green spaces in the hospitality industry as well, and to provide impetus for increasing the quality of green spaces in hotels and restaurants.

In his short speech at the beginning, Harald Kusserow, president of the VGL Lower Saxony-Bremen, praised the high commitment of all project participants. Patron Maike Schaefer said in her video message: "Hotels and restaurants, like gardens, are also places of encounter, enjoyment and creation or relaxation! Whether large facilities or a small leafy courtyard, in my eyes these places are a benefit for all of us as well as for our climate!"

After further greeting words by Carsten Rohdenburg, DEHOGA Lower Saxony and Heiner Baumgarten of the BUND, followed a discussion to the competition. Furthermore Volkmar Kerck (owner of kerck partner landschaftsarchitekten mbB), Michael Werbeck and Harm-Dierk Wellmann (managing director Schoon Grüngestaltung) were represented here as jury members. During the tours, the jury saw very individual and different approaches to solutions for open space design, which, as it were, make valuable contributions to the ecology and sustainability of the places. Even if outdoor areas in the hospitality industry initially serve as an extension of the hospitality area, an appealing green design increases the quality of stay in the outdoor area and contributes to the positive image of the establishment. Carsten Rohdenburg expressed here the hope that "his" enterprises in the future increasingly fall back on the specialized expertise of landscape construction enterprises, in order to arrive at technically responding and safe solutions for the organization of external surfaces. Sustainable solutions can be found and developed here with the inclusion of nature conservation, planning and landscaping.

After a break, the laudations and the award ceremony started at 4 pm. Additionally for the Laudationen were Christine Cramm, chairmen of the BUND Bremen as well as Markus Baritz, managing director of the landscape architecture office planungsgruppe green (bdla).

The restaurant Dör'n Schapp in Vorwerk, Lower Saxony, received the best overall rating at the final event at the Forellenhof Hotel in Walsrode. Michael Werbeck says in his laudation: "The jury agrees that this garden complex is a very special jewel: Between diverse plantings of perennials, shrubs and fruit trees, guests can unwind."

Other awards went to the Sprengel Farm Café in Wolperode (social function), the Heiligenberg forester's lodge in Bruchhausen-Vilsen (design function) and the Radener Deele in Wittingen (ecological function). The jury also awarded three special prizes: The category "Citygarten" goes to STAUBLAU in Oldenburg, "the special communication place" there is in Bergen in the coffee garden Sülze and the inn Schrage in Melle may be pleased about the excellent "execution quality".

More to the competition under www.firmengarten-wettbewerb.de.

Photo and text credits: Maria Wokurka / VGL e.V.

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