Quarters in the Eickhof Hattingen
Renovation, addition of storeys and redensification of a housing estate
A coordinated redevelopment strategy enabled the implementation of redensification and modernization during ongoing residential operations. Today, the neighborhood has been strengthened with new residential and open space qualities.
How can a district with established neighbourhoods and its own identity be modernized without losing its familiarity? This question was at the heart of the renewal of the “Im Eickhof” district in Hattingen-Niederwenigern.
Building on was not seen as a break, but as continuity: through the combination of preserving the existing, providing additional levels and selective additions, and taking ecological, economic and social concerns into account. The result is an urban building block that safeguards the existing structure and opens up new perspectives.
The “Im Eickhof” district comprises residential buildings from the 1950s and 1960s on a south-facing slope in Hattingen-Niederwenigern. The aim was to preserve and upgrade the ensemble while creating additional living space without displacing the existing neighborhood and social fabric and damaging the established character.
The existing buildings were extensively renovated and made more energy-efficient. The floor plans were revised by redividing the rooms into smaller sections and creating modern bathrooms and open-plan kitchens. Some of the existing loggias were converted into living space. New balconies provide a generous outdoor space.
The central measure was the addition of new attic storeys to the houses, implemented in a lightweight timber construction. These provide fully-fledged residential units with spacious loggias facing south and enhance the appearance of the district. The timber construction method enabled short construction times, low emissions and reduced stress for the residents. The asymmetrical pitched roofs and the new façade cladding make the structural intervention visible. The refurbishment is complemented by two new buildings in the eastern part of the district, which blend unobtrusively into the surroundings. In addition to further living space, a new building with a daycare center and residential communities for people with dementia were built in further construction phases, an important decision for the future viability of the neighborhood and its residents.
The cooperative client attached great importance to retaining the tenants: some of the apartments are publicly subsidized and many residents were able to stay in their apartments during the construction work – thanks to careful planning, clever logistics and the use of prefabricated components. The near-natural quality of the new open space design with perennial plantings, wildflower meadows and the extensive preservation of the old trees underlines the principle of continuing to build while preserving existing qualities and making the open spaces usable.
The structural transformation took place while the residents were still living there – but not in the buildings that were specifically renovated. Thanks to accompanying relocation management, tenants were able to move to other buildings within the neighborhood. This made it possible to carry out the refurbishment, extension and redensification in an inhabited environment. Instead of large-scale demolition, the existing buildings were preserved, further developed and supplemented – an ecologically and sociologically forward-looking approach that shows that structural renewal and neighborhood identity do not have to be contradictory and that development in the interests of the residents, the neighborhood and climate protection is possible.
Client
hwg eG, Hattingen
Size
approx. 13.000 m² GFA, 143 new residential units
Planning and implementation
2015-to date
Service
Urban planning study, project planning LPH 1-5 new build, LPH 1-4 refurbishment
Cooperation
Oberhausen planning group
Award
Nomination for the German Building Award 2022
Photo credit: ASTOC
