Building and living in community

This certainly has to do with the changing family and demographic structures of our society. While traditional structures are disintegrating, "families of choice" and social neighborhoods are playing an increasingly important role. In an increasingly tight housing market, there is a lack of attractive, affordable offers for singles, single parents, older people and families, among others, that meet their new housing needs. This is why committed people are joining forces to build together to meet their housing needs. As local authorities value their added value, building cooperatives are supported, for example, through the conceptual allocation of plots of land.

The result of building communities is usually a high level of neighbourhood quality, social integration, affordable costs and energy optimization. Community-based forms of housing currently play an important role in neighborhood development and the creation of affordable, needs-based living space. Experience shows that building cooperatives can create high-quality architecture and develop creative concepts for the use and design of their projects. As a result, spaces are used more intensively and lively and stable neighborhoods are created. In many municipalities, building and housing groups have established themselves as a successful model and are an important component of sustainable urban development.

Building cooperatives think long-term and beyond the front door. They have an impact on the neighborhood and also have an identity-creating effect through their participatory processes. Building cooperatives can bring a mix of uses into the neighborhood and thus create lively urbanity.

Shared housing projects are for you if...

• you are looking for an apartment in a communal environment.
• you would like to tackle a building project together with others or live as a tenant in an active house community together with singles, couples, senior citizens and families.
• you want to play an active role in shaping your living environment in the community and your future neighborhood.
• you would like to get to know the neighbors before you move in.
• They are open to new ideas and ready for joint activities and regular exchanges.

Then building and living in a community is just right for you!

In a building community, people who share similar ideas about housing and living come together across different generations. These are often groups that value good neighbourliness, self-determination and self-organization, mutual support in old age or when living with children. Shared spaces or green spaces and activities often characterize community life. A building community demands commitment, but rewards it with special qualities: such as a lively neighborhood, accessibility, affordable living space, implementation of ecological concepts, integration and special architectural and urban quality.

• Involvement in participatory processes and joint management of the building community.
• Contributing to the building and residential community and the neighborhood
• What is needed here: own ideas, commitment to cooperation, open-mindedness and possibly also a willingness to compromise.
• Financial support is of course a great help for the building community, but not always a must. Depending on the focus of the project, little or no equity is required.

In the Gentristop housing project, we live together in a self-managed apartment building. The house at Oberstraße 25 has five residential units of 70 and 85 square meters, a large basement and an unfinished attic. There is also a small garden and balconies. All decisions are made jointly and democratically by the residents.
The project is part of the Mietshäuser Syndikat, an association of almost 200 different housing projects in Germany. The aim of the Mietshäuser Syndikat is to maintain long-term affordable housing through self-organization.

Contact:

• gentristop@riseup.net

• instagram.com/gentri.stop

Community-based, intergenerational housing project in Aachen's Wiesental valley. "Living together with commitment" is the motto of the "Miteinander im Wiesental" housing project, which is part of the Ko-Operativ eG NRW cooperative. The aim of the house is to be a place where young and old, locals and newcomers, single people and families - in short - people from all sections of society can find a place to live. After a 2-year construction period, all residents were able to move into the building in December 2023.
This idea is already reflected in the architecture: with a spacious communal room directly at the entrance area, a garden and a shared roof terrace. The guest apartment adjoins the communal room and can be shared by all residents. There is also a shared laundry and bicycle room on the first floor. All apartments are barrier-free and have their own balcony or terrace.
15 residential units have found their place in the 5-storey building, over 40% of which are subsidized housing. The first floor and stairwell are solid construction, while all other floors are timber frame construction with Douglas fir cladding. The brine-to-water heat pump achieves a passive house standard. A shared mobility concept with car and bike sharing reduces the number of parking spaces at the building and the volume of traffic in the street.
All apartments are currently occupied, but there is a waiting list for those interested.

Contact & Information:

• Miteinander im Wiesental - News (miteinander-im-wiesental.de)

The association Inklusiv Wohnen Aachen e.V. has realized an innovative and inclusive housing project in Rombachstraße.

At the heart of the apartment building are the two large shared flats, in each of which 5 people with disabilities live together with 4 students. The students live practically rent-free and work as assistants in the shared flat on an hourly basis - based on the principle of "living for help". All residents also receive assistance tailored to their needs. Night guards, specialists, assistants and skilled workers are employed by the association for this purpose. The home also offers people with severe disabilities and a high need for assistance the opportunity to live in the midst of society and is therefore an example of inclusion in practice. The residents share their everyday lives, joint activities and joint sporting activities.
The house was built together with an investor. Funding and care is provided by the Rhineland Regional Association and the care insurance funds.
All rooms are occupied, but there is a waiting list. The association is always looking for specialist staff to support the residents.

Contact & Information:

•  Inclusive Living Aachen e.V.

The WEG-GEHfährten project - in cooperation with the Evangelische Stiftung Hephata - was occupied by four young men and women aged between 25 and 35 on May 1. The living space of the house is 341 square meters. There is also a communal garden. There are two shared apartments for up to three people, two apartments for one person each and a service area.
The residents were also able to get involved in the planning. Each resident was able to choose a colored wall. As some of the young people had never lived anywhere other than with their parents, it was a bit of an adjustment at first. They received support from their environment and two employees of the Hephata Foundation. In addition to regular care, the members of the shared flat meet weekly for a general meeting, where everyone has the opportunity to pass on their wishes and suggestions, as well as for shared meals and play afternoons. The project focuses on the residents and all their needs. The aim is to work very individually towards independence and social interaction.
The housing project receives further funding from Aktion Mensch.

Contact:
WEG-GEHfährten parents' initiative

Martha Neumann
Tel.: 02404/69912

Wolfgang Tiffert
Tel.: 02404/22692

Mail: info@weggehfaehrten.de
weggehfaehrten.de

PatchWorkHaus - living together is a housing project for people of all ages and at different stages of life. The project is organized as a cooperative, so it is not possible to purchase ownership of the apartments. The project is inclusive, integrative and culturally diverse.
A generous plot of 2,800 square meters on Schopenhauerstrasse in the Aachen-Forst district was developed. The experienced team of architects "Alte Windkunst" implemented an attractive design for the building: a bright and friendly, low-rise residential complex consisting of six houses arranged in a semicircle. The buildings are energy-efficient, sustainable and barrier-free and continue to offer the opportunity for both community and retreat. There are also green spaces for play and recreation on the site.
After construction work began successfully in November 2015, the first residents were able to move in in 2016. The last apartment was finally occupied in July 2017. A diverse community of over three dozen people between the ages of 0 and 73 (1/3 of whom are children!) now live together in the PatchWorkHaus.

Information:
patchworkhaus-aachen.de
Mail: info@patchworkhaus-aachen.de

LebensWeGe-Aachen eG is the first cooperative in Aachen to provide living space for people who want to live in a solidary neighborhood relationship. Housing projects are intended to create new structures for people to live together: communal, self-determined and self-organized. Promoting social interaction and improving one's own quality of life - that is what LebensWeGe enables its members to do. We see our housing projects as a forward-looking social model. It is intended to provide a home for people who want to live in a community for generations to come. Land and property are protected from privatization and profit-oriented use by the cooperative form of company.
16 residents moved into the 1st Mataréstraße residential project in spring 2016. Emphasis was placed on sustainable construction, which is reflected in the choice of materials and the use of resources. The building's energy requirements are lower than required by law. The entire building is barrier-free.

Contact:
GandhaPirnay
Tel.: 0241/4682 5204
Mail: anfragen@lebenswege-aachen.de
http://www.lebenswege-aachen.de

"Wohnsinn-Aachen e.V." has founded a limited company with the Freiburger Miethäuser Syndikat to develop self-managed apartment buildings in shared ownership. Wohnsinn-Aachen GmbH created affordable living space for around 35 people in two old buildings and a new building in the middle of the city, Stephanstraße 22-26 (Rosviertel): 12 barrier-free apartments with passive house technology, seven of which are social housing (publicly subsidized). The communal rooms, which are used by the association members aged between seven and 60 as a project kitchen, guest room, café and meeting room, are located in the listed old building.

Contact:
Wohnprojekt Wohnsinn e.V.
Stephanstr. 24 52064 Aachen
www.wohnsinn-aachen.org
Mail: info@wohnsinn-aachen.org
Tel.: 0179/1144328

In June 2013, the experienced property developer nesseler Projektidee gmbh from Aachen acquired a plot of land from the city of Aachen for the realization of a residential project on the site of the old Tivoli Stadium. The property developer, which is experienced in residential projects, has already successfully built and developed the SUN House. By 2016, a complex comprising 28 residential units, an underground car park, a communal apartment and a spacious garden area had been built along Merowingerstrasse/Emmastrasse.
All apartments have been sold and occupied.
The association "Das Zusammenhaus Aachen e.V." was founded in parallel to the development of the construction project. The aim of the association is to use joint activities to ensure that residents become a lively community in which everyone is familiar with each other. The members of the association exchange ideas, inform each other, support each other and experience and work together. They are also happy to pass on their experiences in order to provide information about self-determined, solidarity-based housing projects using the example of the Zusammenhaus.

Information:
www.das-zusammenhaus-aachen.de
Tel.: 0163/1466358
Mail: info@das-zusammenhaus-aachen.de

Developer:
nesseler projektidee GmbH Aachen
Indeweg 80
52076 Aachen
Tel.: 0241/5298-0
Mail: das-zusammenhaus@nesseler-projektidee.de
www.nesseler-projektidee.de

Freely financed residential property realized in 2002, Friedlandstr. 12. with partly rented condominiums. The house is currently fully occupied (entry in the waiting list for rental apartments at Stadthaus statt Haus e.V.).

For information, please contact "Stadthaus statt Haus e. V.". You can also arrange appointments for viewings there.

Contact:
Stadthaus statt Haus e.V
Ms. Bilfinger
Friedlandstr. 12
52064 Aachen
Tel.: 0241/1897759
Mail: stadthaus.aachen@gmx.de

Completed in 2008 with the completion of the SUN House, a barrier-free low-energy house (KfW40) with solar and photovoltaic systems. The SUN House has 13 condominiums ranging from 50 to 110 square meters and a guest apartment with an event room.
The apartments are rented out or occupied by the owners themselves - families with children, couples, singles. The proSUN association serves as an organizational framework for shaping life together in the building community, for managing the building and for involvement in the district.

Contact:
Wohnprojekt proSUN e.V.
Kronenberg 39b - 52074 Aachen
Hansjürgen Hagemann
Tel.: 0241/74737
Mail: info@wohnprojekt-sun.de
www.wohnprojekt-sun.de

The intergenerational residential project "Mit Freu(n)den unter einem Dach e.V." was realized as a residential and commercial building in Aachen, Heussstraße 41/43, 52078 Aachen on a former municipal property (client/investor: Architekturbüro Schiefke/Wassenberg). Completion took place in 2008/2009 and all condominiums and rental apartments have been sold and let. All condominiums, privately financed rental apartments and publicly subsidized rental apartments (A + B subsidy with WBS certificate) of various sizes were planned jointly with the investor. Schools, swimming pools, sports facilities, churches and all amenities for the daily needs of residents are located in the vicinity of the residential project; there is a bus stop in front of the building. The Brand district has an intact civic and community life with a good infrastructure and offers the opportunity for many leisure activities and to explore the beautiful surrounding countryside. The residential group meets regularly for information meetings and discussions. All apartments are currently sold or rented out. There is a waiting list.

Contact:
Marga Fuhrmann and Carola Dammers
Heussstraße 43, 52078 Aachen
Mail: info@mit-freunden-unter-einem-dach.info
www.mit-freunden-unter-einem-dach.info

Publicly subsidized rental property of the city of Aachen, Vaalser Straße 447, built in 1996. The house is currently fully rented (registration in waiting list possible at gewoge AG), a certificate of eligibility for housing is required.

Contact:
Jung&Alt e.V.
Vaalser Straße 447, 52072 Aachen

gewogeAG Gemeinnützige Wohnungsgesellschaft für Aachen AG
www.gewoge-aachen.de