REWE / ACME

With 3,700 supermarkets, the REWE-Group is one of Germany’s leading retailers. The company first included sustainability policies in its guiding principles in 2006. The REWE Green Farming Supermarket in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, realised in close collaboration with the acme architectural firm (based in Berlin/London), is a living example of how changing customer needs can be reconciled with company principles. “We construct buildings that are sustainable not only from an aesthetic point of view, but also from an environmental and social perspective. And we do so believing in the individual nature of each space and the convergence of new materials and technologies.” This philosophy led to the creation of a modular, sustainable building concept for REWE that ties in with a multifaceted service offering and the company’s vision of a self-producing supermarket. “The idea of producing right in the supermarket corresponds to the sustainability demands of consumers. The building aesthetics and the atmosphere are also very appealing and recall the market halls of times gone by, albeit with a very contemporary interpretation", thus the opinion of the jury members on this project.

REWE and ACME in interview mit Red Dot

Red Dot: Our shopping habits have changed considerably over recent years – to what extent does that play into the (new) design of REWE supermarkets?
REWE / ACME: We are seeing completely new offers in supermarkets. They have evolved from monofunctional to multifunctional providers of groceries-related services. That includes a DHL station, a post office counter, a collection point for online grocery orders, etc. And the new generation of REWE supermarkets is once more right in the city centre, close to customers and thus an active part of the residential area. This development places completely different demands on the architecture of new buildings.

One of the special features of the REWE Green Farming Supermarket is that it has its own fish farm as well as a basil farm …
This is an example of how we at REWE are ushering in a new generation of green supermarkets. 800,000 basil plants are grown every year on a hydroponic rooftop farm, which is run by REWE’s partner ECF Farmsystems. They are fertilised with the excretions of the fish that REWE breeds, slaughters and sells on site. No pesticides are used. This practice is in line with the company’s vision of a self-producing supermarket.

The construction follows a modular system – do you believe this is also the future for other industries?
In view of the climate crisis, wood is certainly one of the most important sustainable building materials of the future. It is also very well suited to modularisation – depending on the structure, construction elements may be used as whole or in part. That also corresponds to the cradle-to-cradle principle: throughout the lifespan of a building, the material stays within the materials cycle. If we manage to achieve this and use wood from sustainable forestry sources, our buildings can act as CO₂ reservoirs. Around 1,100 cubic metres of local coniferous timber were used to build the REWE pilot supermarket in Wiesbaden, which thus storing 700 tonnes of CO₂. In 30 years, the wood will have regrown and the CO₂ will have been offset. Smart refrigeration and heating technology, 100 per cent clean energy as well as the use of rainwater for the rooftop farm, toilets and cleaning of the supermarket furthermore help to conserve resources.