The apartments along the pergolas are also designed to allow communication between residents: Generous, openable windows in the kitchens and living rooms, combined with a controllable privacy screen, allows residents to choose between complete privacy and purely visual, direct communication.

The ground floor zone of the buildings extends the offer to encourage interaction between residents and the neighbourhood. These include a restaurant, small businesses such as a bakery and a small shop, a repair café, as well as coworking workspaces and a flexible community room.

To ensure that the ground floor zone acts as a catalyst for the entire surrounding neighbourhood, the 'threshold' between Seffenter Weg and the new development will be reduced. It is proposed to convert the public car parks on Seffenter Weg into loading and short-stay zones, combined with accessible parking. Uniform paving of the forecourts and public footpaths, together with the integration and extension of the street tree grids, will create an attractive, cohesive area with high amenity value, whilst providing retention space in the event of heavy rainfall.

The project as a whole aims to be able to withstand and cope well with future progressive climate cycles and their heat waves, as well as heavy and prolonged rainfall events. Increasing biodiversity and promoting species diversity are floristic-faunistic and successive development processes that result from the overall concept of climate-anthropogenic living.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND EXTENSION

Due to the requirements for energy efficient construction and high energy quality of the buildings, and the general aim of using the highest possible proportion of renewable raw materials, it is proposed that the majority of the construction and finishing of the buildings will be made of wood.

BUILDING ENVELOPES

The proposed timber construction meets high insulation standards, ensuring efficient thermal insulation in winter. A ventilated façade combined with external solar shading will provide effective thermal insulation in summer. In addition, green roofs combined with photovoltaic systems and façade greening improve thermal insulation in summer.

FAÇADE GREENING

The use of large areas of the residential building's façades for greening has a positive effect on the microclimate, thermal insulation, acoustic insulation, air quality, biodiversity and the service life of the building envelope.

The greenery, combined with steel cables as climbing aids, integrates the projecting bay windows and balcony slabs by being installed flush with their front edge. This creates an optically deeper, double façade that provides optimal conditions for plant growth and development, also because the planting is earth-bound.

ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY

The buildings have been designed with simple geometries and recurring components, with superimposed load-bearing structures and shafts throughout. Serial and standardised construction and a high degree of prefabrication in timber construction ensure cost-effective construction and short construction times. Floor plans that all meet the size requirements of the housing subsidy regulations ensure space-efficient and therefore cost-effective planning.

FLEXIBILITY OF APARTMENT SIZES

The load-bearing structure is separate from the extension, allowing the floor plans to be customised. As the floor plans are always divided into service areas (bathroom, kitchen and entrance), bedrooms and children's rooms and living areas, they can be adapted to suit the desired mix of apartments. All sizes comply with social housing regulations, which means that the proportion of social housing can be freely chosen.

The floor plans of the apartments always follow the same zoning and room layout. Only in the area of the living room is there a degree of freedom in the floor plan through the use of sloping and curved sections. This results in individually designed buildings and rooms that are highly recognisable without compromising the principle of economy.

MOBILITY CENTRE (MOBY), PARKING

A sustainable mobility concept will be pursued for the plan area. In addition to the parking spaces for cars and bicycles required by the parking regulations (for apartments, restaurants and other commercial areas), a mobility centre (Moby) in Building 4 will provide the following services: car sharing, e-bike mobility, electric charging systems in conjunction with PV systems on the roof, rental bicycles, e-cargo bicycles and a packing station. Together with the excellent public transport connections, this provides a good basis for the necessary changes in transport in the future.

CONVERSION OF THE MOBY PARKING SPACES

In the garage area, Building 4 is designed as a shelf system into which industrially prefabricated, serialised and standardised timber modules can be 'inserted'. The flexible structure can be adapted to different parking and/or housing requirements, and the garage floors can be gradually converted into apartments.

USE OF SPACE

Buildings 2-4 are accessed via two staircases and pergolas, while Building 1 is designed as a four-storey building. Overall, there is an efficient ratio of living space to circulation space. The buildings have been designed to be compact in order to minimise the footprint. The garage area of building 4 is also designed as a space-saving split-level system. The basement levels of the new buildings are largely located in the basement areas of the existing buildings to minimise the amount of excavation required.

Sealing of surfaces and traffic routes is kept to a minimum. The preservation and expansion of existing green spaces and trees, as well as green roofs and building planting, will compensate for land consumption and improve the microclimate. A cross-path connection between buildings 1 and 2 respects the existing trees by raising the path.

SOUND INSULATION

To ensure sound insulation, soundproof windows are designed according to the two-level principle.
The windows protrude from the façade as bays. The open-air seating areas are fitted with sliding/rotating glazing. This also optimises sound insulation and creates loggias that are independent of weather and wind and can also be used during the transitional seasons.

USE OF DEMOLITION MATERIAL

Recycled concrete will be used for the basement floors and garage slabs. Recycled aggregate from the demolition of the existing concrete floors will be used as aggregate.

For exterior retaining walls, such as dry-stone walls and/or gabions, the demolition material will be sustainably sourced from bricks and/or the concrete slabs, where possible.

The floor slabs of the new buildings are to be constructed as box girder slabs. In order to improve the necessary sound insulation between the floors, recycled fill material (mass) will be used in the intermediate ceiling.