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pop-up beergarden

For the whole summer: Hub 150.

Platform for 150 years of RheinEnergie

150 years of Rhenish energy and water supply. Where and how is RheinEnergie celebrating this birthday? At its roots: on the grounds of the historic waterworks in Cologne's Südstadt! For 150 days, this place will be transformed into a platform for the energy of an entire region. For history, TODAY and the FUTURE of the energy supplier. For an entire summer.

At home in the historic waterworks

Exhibition plan

The perfect backdrop

From April to September, the grounds, which are normally closed to the public, will be open to visitors. More than 50,000 guests from all walks of life can experience a variety of topics related to energy and water, which will change monthly.

A temporary structure formed by nine containers acts as a frame and hub for the diverse program. The two-level platform becomes an exhibition venue for TODAY and the FUTURE of the region's energy supply. And if you get hungry or thirsty during your visit, the integrated pop-up beer garden is the perfect place to toast the anniversary with a freshly tapped Kölsch beer.

A look into the FUTURE

By 2035, RheinEnergie's entire energy supply is to be decarbonised – i.e., the supply of electricity and heat will be carbon-neutral. In the FUTURE container, ideas and technologies that will enable this vision are presented. The topics can be experienced visually and haptically through concrete planned projects. The focus is on RheinEnergie employees as the main protagonists, who talk about their personal contributions to carbon-neutrality in Cologne and the region.

Here and TODAY

In the TODAY container, the colour theme and the exhibition contents also change monthly – to match the changing core topic. Key areas such as drinking water, climate-neutral energy production, social commitment, and light and heat are made easy to experience through graphics, exhibits and digital tools.

The topics are made comprehensible in a playful way with the RheinEnergie AR-App, developed by dreiform. Extended with new chapters, animations and details, it allows visitors to dive digitally into the subjects.

AR microscenes to experience

Gemeinsam mit dreiform haben wir in einer tollen kooperativen Zusammenarbeit einen Magnet für den Sommer geschaffen.
Elfgard Pfahlbusch
(RheinEnergie AG, Projektleiterin)

A few questions to Elfgard Pfahlbusch

  1. What is special about the location?

    That this historic site is now a showcase for our diverse topics, where visitors can experience TODAY and the FUTURE of RheinEnergie. That is really a highlight. Also the fact that the site is otherwise not open to the public.

  2. Are there any nice plans for the time AFTER?

    One thing is clear: the wish of the visitors is "The grounds should stay open!" But above all, we would like to continue to show the TODAY and FUTURE exhibitions, their exhibits and contents. These include the topical postcards created for the exhibitions, which we will definitely continue to issue – especially to school classes as part of our own events. And we can and want to include the exhibits on drinking water in our Nippes Water Quarter project.

  3. What's your summary?

    The first two exhibitions were particularly well received – those were on drinking water and its quality in May and climate-neutral energy in June, where we presented content using VR glasses. These are, of course, topics that people are currently very interested in.

    Overall, we get a lot of positive feedback – especially a lot of gratitude for opening up the site and for what we do there. You can just tell how grateful and happy the people of Cologne are to have such an inspiring place to spend the summer. But the employees are also very satisfied. The team is made up from different company departments and here they have personal contact with the visitors, which is not very common for most of them. They find the atmosphere, ambience and positive feedback very enriching.

  4. How did you find the collaboration with dreiform?

    Very, very positive and cooperative. The dreiform team simply has great colleagues! We developed ideas together. And what was very special for those of us involved in the project was the moment when we saw the finished TODAY exhibition for the first time and stood inside. That was really "WOW".

Projects facts


CLIENT

RheinEnergie

Location

Severin II Waterworks
Bonner Wall / Ohmstrasse
50677 Cologne, Germany

Services

  • Spatial graphics
  • Explainer films
  • Concept development
  • Innovation communication
  • Augmented reality (AR)
  • Interactive exhibits and rooms
  • Interior design
  • Exhibitions
  • Dialogue and service centre
  • Media planning

Facts

  • 2,000 visitors per weekend
  • 9 system containers
  • 2 subject areas
  • 1 platform
  • The most beautiful beer garden in Cologne for 150 days

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