Change on the Wellisareal
Auf dem drei Hektaren grossen Wellisareal in Willisau soll ein neues, modernes Wohn- und Gewerbequartier entstehen. Das Projekt steht am Anfang. Im Herbst 2024 soll die Bevölkerung über die notwendige Teilzonenplanänderung und den Bebauungsplan abstimmen.
The Wellisareal is located at the northern entrance to Willisau, next to the historic town centre, directly on the main traffic axis and near the railway station. It covers an area of 30,000 square metres.
in 1927, Orgelbau AG, a company specialising in the manufacture of church organs, settled in the then still largely undeveloped “Grundmatt” at the gates of the old town of Willisau. With the founding of Wellis AG in 1931 as a subsidiary of the organ factory, the eventful history of furniture production took its course. Wellis AG specialised in designer furniture and was internationally known under the label “Team by Wellis”.
As the company grew, the factory site developed into its current size by the 1980s. Furniture companies are still based on the site today.
The northern part of the Wellis site belongs to Foroom Immobilien AG. It has concluded a long-term purchase agreement with GKA Immobilien AG. The southern part is owned by the Tolusso family. This is also where the stone industry Tolusso AG is located. Together, the owners want to develop the area into a residential and commercial quarter in the coming years. Due to the central and convenient location as well as the size of the site, the development and future use of the area is of high public interest.
Three renowned planning teams from Lucerne, Zurich and Basel were consulted for the test planning. The concept of the Basel architects Herzog & de Meuron was the most convincing. It envisages transforming the area into an “open, lively living and working space”. The site is to be further developed in individual stages, building on existing structures and thus growing organically and in line with demand. Individual industrial buildings are to be preserved.
The project by Herzog & de Meuron was further developed and should pave the way for the partial zoning change and the development plan that would be necessary for a transformation of the site. After the planning and a public circulation, the voters are to decide on the partial zoning change in autumn 2024. If everything goes according to plan, the earliest possible start of construction is 2025.