Is it possible to realize a residential development without heating in the 21st century? At some point, the Werkshöfe planning team even discussed this question. They were motivated to do so by the client of the Werkshöfe, OTEC, among others. After all, for its residential project in Werksviertel-Mitte, OTEC had specified the principle of a structural simplicity that was quite radically conceivable. And hadn’t they seen with their own eyes in a studio apartment building in Basel, where the project planners had found inspiration, that a building can actually function without heating?
“We decided to install heating in the apartments after all,” says Timo Schneckenburger, Managing Director of OTEC, with a grin. Ultimately, the risk would have been too great. But the anecdote from the planning process shows how seriously all those involved have tried and are still trying to break with habits in the development of the residential buildings in Werksviertel-Mitte. Just as the district is already doing in other areas, such as work, the mix of culture and entertainment or the independent energy supply and the various sustainability concepts. So will the next big thing happen in residential development?
To find an answer to this question, you first have to understand how Werksviertel-Mitte works. As in the district, the aim of the residential development is not to create the most exclusive or most strikingly designed building, but first and foremost to create a space for people where they feel comfortable, where they enjoy living together. Schneckenburger emphasizes the word “together”. “Other questions were initially more important to us than, for example, the design of the façade or the quality of the parquet flooring. For example, whether we would have a continuous jogging track on the communal roof and how long it would be. Or whether we could accommodate a basketball court for the residents on the roof.” Because it’s places like these that make encounters possible and create community. Of course, such meeting spaces can also harbor potential for conflict. For example, when some neighbors want their peace and quiet, while others really turn up the heat when playing basketball. That is life.
And this will not only be on the roof, but also on the first floors, with retail, cafés and communal areas shared by the residents. The arcades, which provide access to the apartments, are also such communal areas, which were also discussed at length, as they define specific access to the apartments and thus the floor plan typologies. It was therefore necessary to weigh up what was more important. In this case, too, the decision was made in favor of the common areas, i.e. the arcades.
"For us, it will also be about finding tenants who are willing to accept life in the Werkshöfe and in Werksviertel."
The fact that the socially subsidized apartments are interspersed throughout all of the building components shows just how important it is for all tenants in the Werkshöfe to live together. “The fact that we pull this off and don’t separate this group of tenants as usual, but treat them as equals as far as possible and integrate them as normal, is something that many people take their hats off to,” reports Heike Martin, not without pride. After all, mission statements are all well and good. Every project developer now has them. But in the end, the many well-formulated sentences from the brochures and exposés have to be put into practice so that they have a real value in the world. If they fail to do so, they remain nothing more than hollow phrases. “For us, it will also be about finding tenants who fit in with our concept. Who are prepared to embrace life in the Werkshöfe and in Werksviertel,” says Timo Schneckenburger. And not just in the here and now, but also a few generations down the line. “One of our central guiding principles at Werksviertel-Mitte is suitability for great-grandchildren,” explains Schneckenburger. “This term manifests our idea of sustainability, which we always think holistically, i.e. socially, ecologically and economically.” The life cycle of the new apartments is therefore also a particular focus of the Werkshöfe planners. “We are aiming for a life cycle of more than 222 years for our Werkshöfe,” says Schneckenburger. This long period of time, as well as the principle of simple construction, should lead to a truly sustainable building.
Simple construction is reflected, for example, in the fact that the planners strive as far as possible to use materials that can be returned to the natural cycle and not composite materials. Instead of mechanical ventilation, window ventilation is used. Instead of electric blinds, there are curtains that can be drawn like in sunny Italy. “It’s worked brilliantly there for decades,” laughs Schneckenburgern. During the conversation, it quickly becomes clear that the term “simple construction” is somewhat misleading. After all, the current DIN standards are not always compatible with a building owner’s desire to do without. “Thank goodness there is finally political support here from our Federal Building Minister,” notes Schneckenburger. In some cases, however, builders and planners have deliberately not fully exploited the possibilities of simple construction. Take noise protection, for example. The hustle and bustle of life in the factory yards was then expanded to include the option of retreating to the peace and quiet of one’s own four walls.
For example, landscape architect Stefanie Jühling explains that a special construction is needed to cantilever the pergolas. She and her team are responsible for the landscape architecture of the factory yards. In particular for the intensively greened communal roof. And here the landscape architects repeatedly clashed with the principle of simple construction. For example with the arcades. The specialist planners had only planned a bare ceiling there. “But we wouldn’t have been able to implement our greenery on that.” So a solution had to be found for the structural requirements of the landscape architects. “After all, we are planning part of the roof as a forest roof with trees. But there will also be a grass roof and other areas,” says Jühling. And, of course, the surrounding jogging track, on which Jühling is already hoping that all the planners will run together. In addition to the roof, greenery is also planned for the pergolas. “There will be extra rain barrels for this, which will collect water that tenants can use for watering.”
OTEC had not initially assumed that the negotiation processes demanded by each of the parties involved would always end in a good compromise. This is why the possibility of external mediation had actually been planned from the outset. “We haven’t needed it yet,” explains specialist planner Markus Emde. If you are looking for a reason for this, you might find it in what Markus Emde says when the joint discussion is actually already over. He starts talking about his apartment. A period building, which of course doesn’t have the impact sound insulation that is standard today. “And yes, I can hear a neighbor from time to time or when the boy below me plays the piano. But that doesn’t bother me.” And he talks about the wooden doors in his apartment. “They’re 100 years old.” One of them was in the cellar for a few years. Emde only recently brought it up again. “Hinged, it fits.” And this door could even be reworked, i.e. sanded and painted. You couldn’t do that with a standard 0815 clamping plate door.
And Markus Emde also talks about the frustration he sometimes feels in his work. “These life cycle analyses that assume 50 years. That’s not what you actually want. I really hope that this project here will become a positive example and that the construction industry will develop more courage to do things differently. We’ve known for 40 years that we can’t go on like this. And we’ve never managed to do it in society as a whole. Of course, we planners also have to look at ourselves. We could do so much better.” And perhaps this ability to finally do things better in Werksviertel-Mitte is the source of this amazingly smooth ability to compromise. A real sense of togetherness, which will also enliven the factory yards from 2027.
