The unique concept combines modular supermarket architecture with sustainable construction and operation as well as an aquaponic rooftop farm for producing food in the centre of the city. Together with the special space and interior design, the design, the composition of the product range and the presentation of the goods, the new REWE supermarket type serves as a model for the industry.

"The customer-orientated task of a full-range supermarket is currently changing from a monofunctional food retailer to a multifunctional food service provider. This means that a future-proof supermarket today must combine more conceptual building blocks, such as the linking of digital services like pick-up and parcel stations, but also product range expansions for convenience, regional, vegan and organic products, as well as gastronomic offerings," says REWE Group Divisional Director Peter Maly. "In combination with changing location factors, a supermarket becomes an active urban building block in the neighbourhood. A requirement that it has never had to fulfil in its history. This resulted in our decision not to further develop the old REWE Green Building concept, but to rethink the supermarket of the future from the ground up. We are therefore delighted with the award and the associated recognition of our concept idea."

The conceptual forerunner of REWE Green Farming was the first REWE Green Building pilot store in Berlin-Rudow in 2009. The underlying concept was honoured with many national and international awards. Since then, the rollout has been based on a model building specification that has been awarded multiple certificates by the DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council). Since 2012, more than 220 stores have been built according to this concept and more than 100 others are currently under construction or in the planning stage. The first ideas for a new generation of REWE Green Buildings as a successor to the previous concept were discussed at the beginning of 2016. These led to an architectural competition in summer 2016, in which REWE remained anonymous as the client and the retailer also kept the circle of participants small internally in order to give the creative minds the greatest possible freedom of thought. The result is the REWE Green Farming store in Wiesbaden: A pilot store and prototype for REWE's future new generation of sustainable supermarkets. A new, adaptable and sustainable store concept that can be adapted to different location typologies in the form of a modular system - both conceptually and constructively. It is not an integral part of the new concept that every new REWE Green Farming store includes a rooftop farm. This will only be the case at suitable, selected locations.