People are moving into our big cities and their centres are experiencing more spatial differentiation; as a result, new city districts will develop in the future. Thus the area around the station “Südkreuz” – which began operation as Berlin’s second largest station in 2006 – has become a focus of urban planning. There are plans for a new city district to emerge here in the future, replacing current wasteland and small businesses. One of the few historical landmarks in this heterogeneous environment is the transformer plant Südkreuz. In an international competition for ideas, institutes of further education conceived potential development projects that may influence the surrounding area by restoring and augmenting the site’s fine existing buildings. The competition entries provide exemplary ideas for a redefinition of urban wasteland through a constructive use of existing structures.