Together with Mayor Mathias Neuner and municipal architect Birgit Weber, CEO Karsten Jerschke presented the new street sign, which has more than a symbolic meaning for him. “The address not only reflects 3C-Carbon’s leading position as a manufacturer of composite fibre materials, but will also bring an end to confusion.” Previously, instead of coming to “Lechrainstraße”, suppliers and customers continually ended up at similar sounding streets in Landsberg.

The renaming also demonstrates how 3C-Carbon AG is continuing on its course of expansion. In future, it is not only the production and research facilities that are to be significantly expanded once again on the site of the former Lechrainkaserne barracks; sports facilities, company accommodation and a new prestigious research and development centre are also being planned – all of which will bear the “3C-Ring” address. “We aim to show that we are acknowledging the dynamic growth of this outstanding firm.”

In line with the basic orientation of the carbon manufacturer, all three designs provide for the close interconnection of high-tech, nature and residential. 3C-CEOKarsten Jerschke had already placed great emphasis on this when explaining the brief before the jury meeting. The aim of the development on the site of the former Lechrainkaserne barracks, he said, was to “make the outstanding landforms liveable for people, without disrupting the ecological balance.” In the north of the site, the company aims to construct a sustainable residential district with various types of buildings and floor plans, and ultimately to see a holistic campus develop with complementary infrastructure in the transitional area between the industrial buildings and the residential district.

Nineteen entries that tackled this exciting task were submitted (anonymously), and the local jury set about examining them intensely. The panel under the leadership of Nuremburg city planner Prof. Matthias Loebermann consisted of several specialist adjudicators - among them municipal architect Birgit Weber, Karsten Jerschke and Mayor Mathias Neuner as well as council members Berthold Lesch, Hans-Jürgen Schulmeister and Dr. Andreas Hartmann.
In an “open and friendly high-level discussion” lasting almost seven hours, after several closing rounds the jury decided on three concepts:

“A CLEARING IN THE WOODS”. As the title of the project suggests, a “clearing in the woods” is to be created. The design provides for a strictly circular form for the residential quarter with various building types and additional facilities for residents. The ring is intersected by two streets, but the site is otherwise car-free, with space for parking entirely underground.

The jury praised the fact that the design has been “kept to a minimum” and allows “plenty of room for nature and landscape”. The unique atmosphere can contribute to the feeling of community among residents, they believe. The jury members see a handicap, however, in the lack of possibilities for expansion and the limited development options; in addition, they believe the commercial viability of this solution is “questionable”.

“FOREST FIRST”. The design provides for four zones in the area: forest settlement, common area, industrial park and energy park. In the residential quarter, the plan provides for differentiated construction (of both apartments and individual homes), whilst the common area should function as a connective element between the residential area and the company complex (which is given organic roofs) as well as a space for the communal facilities and for the renaturation and expansion of the Wiesbach river.
With “Forest First”, the energy park, communal gardens and sports facilities are located to the west, whilst an adventure park completes the area to the south.
The jury was impressed by the transport connections by rail and B17, and rated the concept highly thanks to its overall “logical and nature-oriented allocation of the various purposes.”

LIVING WITH(IN) NATURE. The design was particularly interesting for the way it took a “classic” industrial site and incorporated alleys, pathways, squares and semi-public and semi-private spaces. This “intermediary” zone serves as a filter between living and working. The new settlement is complemented by reforestation efforts and offers an open pathway structure that is adapted to the various target groups on the site.
The work shows a unique interpretation of a company housing development, according to the jury’s report, and also lives up to its social responsibility. The panel did see a lack of detail on environmental standards and energy networks, however. The “appealing suggestion” to arrange the production spaces architecturally to the north was, they believed, “not possible” due to the production processes.

A final decision about prizes and acquisitions will be made by the national jury on 14 and 15 November in Berlin. Alongside Landsberg, seven other German cities have submitted their contributions for the competition as well. 3C-CEO Karsten Jerschke thanked the participants at this stage “for the interesting impulses that will now be consolidated in a further process”.

EUROPAN is the biggest design competition for urban planning and architecture. The 13th edition begins on 2 March 2015 at around 50 sites throughout Europe. In the context of the project, more than 2,000 young architects and planners address the current issues facing urban planning and develop visionary ideas and strategic concepts for selected situations in various locations around Europe.

This year Landsberg am Lech is also taking part with a local recreation area to the south of the city. The 3C-Carbon Group AG's Lechrain Technology Park is at the centre of the competition area for “Europan 13” (marked in yellow), and is to be expanded to the North with an industrial residential area.

By the 3C-Carbon Group AG acquiring the Horex brand, an important piece of German industrial history was able to be saved from being sold off abroad. The exceedingly successful high-tech company from Landsberg am Lech has taken over the Horex brand with the goal of successfully continuing the soon-to-be 100-year history of a German motorcycle manufacturer that is rich in tradition. Horex brand motorcycle models should be brought back to the market as soon as possible and further expand their prior success.

In order to lead the Horex brand to a new bout of glory, not only a lot of heart and soul, but also essential optimisations are going to be required from a technical and organisational perspective. The goal is to devise a marketable concept in order to get new clientele enthusiastic about Horex.

Loyal fans as well as dedicated dealers form an important basis for this new start and should be involved in the process of finding ideas. The 3C-Group is therefore striving to ensure functioning supply of spare parts for the Horex VR6 models that had most recently been produced.

Further information on the 3C-Carbon Group AG

The 3C-Carbon Group AG is a rapidly expanding company group in the field of development and manufacturing of high-tech fibre composite structures for the automotive, mechanical engineering, medical technology and aerospace industries.

At its sites located in Landsberg am Lech, Baden-Württemberg and in Switzerland, the company group produces high-tech components made from carbon fibre (carbon), meeting cutting-edge production standards. Thereby, the development speed and the reliability of the company, as well as the quality of the components are considered to be a recognised benchmark on the market.

Furthermore, the 3C group is maintaining an internationally operating development and racing team, that has confidently been able to win the International German Championship (Drivers and Manufacturers title) in the highest German motorcycling class within the scope of the SUPERBIKE*IDM in 2014.

www.3C-Carbon.com | www.3C-Racing-Team.com
3C-Carbon Group AG | Industriegebiet Lechrain 15-26 | 86899 Landsberg am Lech | Germany

The open practice session on Friday was held under sunny conditions and all the riders in the 3C-Racing Team wanted to put in as many laps as possible. Apart from a short practice session in Mugello beforehand, they had hardly had a chance to get a feel for the new WSBK bike. This was a major handicap because there is a considerable difference between the engines and chassis of the IDM and WSBK bikes.

The 3C-Racing Team was supported in the pits by five Ducati engineers and its IDM partners Öhlins and Pirelli. Both companies sent their technicians from the IDM series to Magny Cours to provide the best possible support for the wild card start of the IDM-winning 3C Racing Team.

Xavi Forés qualified directly for the superpole 2, whilst Max Neukirchner and Lorenzo Lanzi had to take the long route via the superpole 1. Neukirchner (12th position) lined up with Forés (11th position) on the fourth row of the starting grid. Lanzi ended up starting from 15th position.

It rained non-stop on the Sunday of the meeting and both legs turned into wet races. Forés rode brilliantly and had the chance of finishing in the top 5 in both races. However, he fell in the first race whilst lying in 6th place and unfortunately also had to drop out of the second race with a technical defect.

Neukirchner secured his best World Championship placings since 2009 with 6th and 9th positions and thus earned the 3C-Racing Team two top 10 places on its first World Championship appearance.Lanzi lived up to his reputation as a rain specialist. In the first race at Magny Cours he crossed the finishing line immediately behind Davide Giugliano (Ducati works team) in 8th position and thus one place ahead of Neukirchner. Lanzi managed an even bigger sensation in the second race by finishing 5th, his converted IDM 3C-Racing Team machine was the best placed Ducati in this race – over 40 seconds in front of the works machine of Chaz Davies (9th position).

Team boss Karsten Jerschke: "The technical level and the riding skills in World Superbike racing are very impressive. It's exciting to have so much competition all of a sudden, the gaps between all the riders are minimal. All in all, 3C was able to keep up with the world's elite. From a standing start, the team has conjured up a bike capable of taking on the best in the world on a completely different basis to that in the IDM series. In view of the fact that the competition has had a whole year to fine-tune their machines, our result is almost sensational."

For more news www.3C-Racing-Team.com.