The AI Quarter of the Future in Heilbronn

Starting in 2024, a new urban quarter will be created in the Steinäcker district of Heilbronn as a home for an international as well as innovative AI ecosystem – but also as a space for citizens of the city of Heilbronn and numerous guests.

Background

The Ipai main site Steinäcker

Starting in 2024, a new quarter will be built in the Steinäcker district of Heilbronn – an international campus for artificial intelligence (AI). On this page we will inform you about all current developments around the project. Do you have any questions? Feel free to contact us!

The future main location Steinäcker is part of the lighthouse project Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence. As an extension of the existing buildings in the Wohlgelegen area, the new home of Ipai will be built here in the future on approximately 23 hectares.

The new campus is equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure and offers, among other things, test fields for AI-based products and services. Ipai thus offers business, science and the public sector a unique environment to work together on AI solutions, to network – and thus to benefit from AI together. Embedded in Heilbronn – and closely networked with numerous other players and locations, such as the education campus and its facilities – an innovation-promoting ecosystem unique in Europe is thus being created that will accelerate the application of artificial intelligence in Baden-Württemberg.

In the process, the main Steinäcker site will not only become a place where people work and research together, but also where they can stay, get supplies and spend their free time.

We are pleased to be home to the quarter of the future for AI in Europe.

Harry Mergel
Lord Mayor of the City of Heilbronn

The aim is to find the best possible fit for Ipai and for Heilbronn with the selection and at the same time to think about the international appeal beyond the region.

Moritz Gräter
Moritz Gräter
CEO Ipai
Competition

From the idea to implementation

In a large-scale ideas and implementation competition, international architectural firms were invited to develop their visions for the Steinäcker site. A total of nine works from four countries were submitted. In the cooperative, interdisciplinary invitation competition, all participants were asked to develop a development in several sections, whereby the entire area was to be overplanned in terms of urban and landscape planning. In addition to generous outdoor and open-air areas, one focus of the competition was on a high degree of flexibility of the site in order to enable not only economic operation but also a rapid response to future developments in the field of AI. But the focus was also on the international appeal of the site.

On March 10, 2023, the jury selected the best four designs:

From the four winning designs, it is now up to Ipai – together with the members of the Heilbronn consortium – to select a design as the basis for the further planning and realization concept.

On March 28, 2023, the final design will be presented to the public in detail at a press conference. In a public exhibition of all submitted designs, all interested parties will then be able to see the various works for themselves in April.

Milestones

This is how the AI district of the future will be created

The development of the KI-Quartier will be realized in several stages. After completion of all construction phases, the area will serve as an attractive, new working and living environment for several thousand people.

In October 2022, the official invitation to tender for the international ideas and realization competition was launched. The participating offices had until the end of February 2023 to develop and officially submit their designs.

On March 8 and 9, 2023, the best four designs were selected by a jury of almost 50 members consisting of experienced expert judges – renowned architects, urban planners and landscape architects -, the Ministry of Economics, Labor and Tourism Baden-Württemberg and representatives of the Ipai consortium.

The final design will be presented to the public in detail at a press conference on March 28.

In April, all interested parties will be able to see the final design and all other submitted designs for themselves at a public exhibition.

We will inform you about the place, date and duration of the exhibition in due time via our communication channels.

More information on upcoming dates will follow shortly.

Frequently asked questions

FAQs

We are often asked these questions. If your question has not been answered yet, please contact us via the contact form or send us a message to press@ip.ai.

AI – Made in Baden-Württemberg. To ensure that this seal of quality has national and international appeal and global success, the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (Ipai) is being realized with the support of the state of Baden-Württemberg. At Ipai, we are building the most influential ecosystem for artificial intelligence in Europe. Here, companies, applied research and science, future talents and public sector players come together to work synergy-driven on AI-based software products and solutions, to network, to educate and to inform.

The Ipai is a place for education, exchange and experimentation – around the topic of artificial intelligence – virtually and on site. Our journey starts in 2022 in Baden-Württemberg in the attractive Heilbronn-Franken region.

Our origin is the Ipai and the Ipai is the future home of Artificial Intelligence. Our name tells two stories:

1. Our origin

The abbreviation stands for Innvoation Park AI. The idea of the Ipai was born as part of a competition held by the Ministry of Economics of the State of Baden-Württemberg. The competition was about the submission of concepts for the development of the “Innovation Park AI Baden-Württemberg”. The Heilbronn consortium was able to convince an international jury with its own concept. For the development of such a large project, which will also have international appeal, we often use the English term “Artificial Intelligence” for artificial intelligence. The Ipai is a tribute to the elaborate competition of the Ministry of Economics of “the LÄND”. Baden-Württemberg is a federal state that is characterized by so many pioneers and wants to be competitive in the field of Artificial Intelligence. All our members benefit from the applied know-how of German innovation and economic power from Baden-Württemberg!

2. Our Home

the IP address provides information about the identity of users and their whereabouts – in a globalized world, where you can live and work from anywhere, it has become a synonym for home. The Ipai is to become a home for Artificial Intellgence. We are networkers:inside: Best connected to realize challenging AI projects nationally and internationally. Through our unique AI ecosystem with direct access to high professionals, networks and infrastructure!

The Ipai emerged from a competitive process of the Ministry of Economics of the State of Baden-Württemberg for the establishment of the “Innovation Park AI Baden-Württemberg”. The Heilbronn consortium convinced an international jury with its concept and has already been under construction since spring 2022. The consortium is made up of the city of Heilbronn, Stadtsiedlung Heilbronn GmbH, KI Management GmbH & Co. KG and the Dieter Schwarz Foundation.

We want to create a virtual and physical place where all interested people can exchange, educate, research and develop on the topic of artificial intelligence. From a family experience for the little ones to tech experts from industry, business and culture. We are at the very beginning of this vision and will gradually expand the individual components. We will start as early as 2022 with the development of a community, educational offerings, cultural offerings and co-working spaces at Zukunftspark Wohlgelegen.

We are doers: United as a cosmopolitan community that passionately, diversely and creatively shapes the future. We invite tech experts, researchers, cultural professionals and the general public to engage with the topic of artificial intelligence together with us.

There are various ways to participate:

Corporate

If you would like to get involved or engage with your company, you can view our previous offerings in the “Offerings” section, which will continue to evolve.

Tech-Experts

Participate in our formats, which you can explore either in the Education section or in the Events section.

Citizens

Our working group for citizen participation is currently working on a concept through which citizen can get involved in the design. We will keep you posted on the progress.

Job opportunities

We have ambitious goals with a lot of creative freedom and are looking for top talent to bring their passion and skills in stakeholder management to the start-up phase. Here is an overview of our open job offers in the “Join” area

We will start with our offer in 2022 in the Wohlgelegen future park in Heilbronn. The final Ipai will be realized in the Steinäcker area near the highway.

Zukunftspark Wohlgelegen is located in Heilbronn and is connected by public transport with line 8 at the stop “Heilbronn Containerterminal”. Parking spaces and a parking garage are available for passenger cars. The mobility concept for the Ipai in Steinäcker is currently still being developed.

Our great interest is to build a place that is designed to be as climate neutral as possible. Sustainability and the use of ecological innovations play a central role in this. To this end, we are conducting a study in cooperation with Fraunhofer IAO, the result of which is a Greenbook that provides orientation for architecture, engineering and construction.

The development of the Steinäcker site from 2024 will be carried out in several stages, with the first stage to be completed by the end of 2026. In the future, the campus will offer several thousand people the opportunity to work and research together, to spend their free time, to care for themselves and to live.

Contact

Talk to us

Transparency and exchange are important to us. Do you have questions or suggestions about the project? Feel free to contact us using the form on the right.

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