Heide & von Beckerath . photos: © Andrew Alberts . + baunetz
The site of a former mirror factory is located between Wilhelminian housing on Lange Straße in the south-west and Dr.-Mack-Straße in the north-east near the water meadows on the river Pregnitz at Fürth’s city park. It is accessible from both streets and runs transversely to a storey-high drop in the terrain. The old forge is the only remaining building on the site. The party wall of a neighbouring building forms the north-western boundary. A new development is anticipated along the south-eastern border. The after-use of the industrial site gives significant impetus to the urban neighbourhood’s transformation and the innovative form of housing lends it model character. The programme was developed in close consultation with the future residents and in a dialogue with the city of Fürth. The building joint venture’s aspiration for community-oriented living in diverse and generation-spanning co-housing led to a mix of cooperative and owner-occupied accommodation. A housing cooperative was specially set up in which the owners are sustaining members. Of the eight sponsored apartments, four are available for refugees and several of the cooperative’s apartments are rented by the Lebenshilfe Fürth e.V. charity. The PEN-Club offers another apartment to exiled writes. A neighbourhood centre sponsored by the city serves as a hub for neighbourhood issues and local initiatives within the building. Continue reading Heide & von Beckerath
