SAGA GWG holds topping out ceremony for the first 24 of 265 publicly funded apartments in the Weltquartier

The Weltquartier is growing. This is where Hamburg’s biggest housing association, SAGA GWG, is building 265 publicly funded apartments to passive house standards. At the topping out ceremony for the first 24 of these, the speakers were the Senator for Urban Development and the Environment, Jutta Blankau, and SAGA GWG Managing Director Willi Hoppenstedt.

The apartments measure between 39 and 84 square metres in area. They consist of eleven 4-room apartments, eleven 3-room apartments and two apartments with just two rooms. The initial rent will be EUR 5.70 per square metre net, without extras.

The new buildings are the work of the Dresden architects’ firm Knerer and Lang. They have been designed to passive house standards, and meet demanding requirements in terms of energy conser-vation. At the same time this is just the prelude to a whole range of new buildings. These will have decisive implications for the municipal architecture and architectural quality of the Weltquartier, with a view to the IBA Presentation Year in 2013.

Jutta Blankau, Senator for Urban Development and the Environment: ‘New and modernised housing in the Weltquartier district is giving Hamburg citizens coming from 30 different nations a new home – at an affordable rent. The workers’ quarter from the thirties is being transformed step by step into a model of sustainable intercultural living. This project in Wilhelmsburg is a showcase illustration of what the Senate, in conjunction with the Bündnis für das Wohnen in Hamburg [Hamburg Housing League], is able to achieve in many parts of the city.’

Willi Hoppenstedt, SAGA GWG Managing Director: ‘The new buildings in Gert-Schwämmle-Weg mark an important step forward in the development of the Weltquartier. SAGA GWG is hoping to upgrade the entire district, in a spirit of careful moderation. An outstanding objective here is the sta-bilisation of the neighbourhoods. This is something we are working on, and this new housing, being primarily aimed at families, will make its contribution.’

Uli Hellweg, Managing Director of IBA Hamburg: ‘This is the first topping out ceremony to be held in the Weltquartier. But it is only a beginning – seeing that these 24 publicly funded apartments, crowned today with a topping out wreath, are just the start of a project involving a total of 265 pub-licly funded living units. Together with these new top-quality modernised apartments, affordable living space is being created for Wilhelmsburg residents coming from almost 40 different nations.’

About the Weltquartier
In the southern Reiherstieg quarter, around Weimarer Strasse, more than 1700 people coming from almost 40 different countries are living in housing provided by SAGA GWG. This settlement is a pro-ject of the International Building Exhibition IBA Hamburg, designated the Weltquartier (the name means World Quarter) and designed to be a model project for intercultural living. Energy improve-ments have been implemented on façades, windows, roofs and heating systems. At the same time balconies and winter gardens have been created, extending the housing area. In addition, ground plans have been modified and apartments amalgamated, with a view to creating larger living units suitable for families. Some buildings have been torn down and new buildings are being constructed. The outside areas are being completely redesigned. In every way the district is opening up, with new footpaths allowing easier access in a green environment.

Plans for the future-oriented redesign of the district were first laid in 2007, with an elaborate and innovative brainstorming process in which large numbers of the local population were involved. IBA Hamburg and GWG SAGA then held an Intercultural Planning Workshop. Numerous schemes en-abled tenants to express their wishes and expectations and describe what home means to them today. Their input was publicly discussed, and documented on photo walls and in the media. This made it possible for the wishes and requirements of the ethnically different groups to be taken into account in the concrete project plans and design of the buildings. So ‘World Quarter’ is an apt name for the project.

Contact:
SAGA GWG: Dr Michael Ahrens, Head of Corporate Communications
Tel. +49 (0)40 42666-9111, e-mail@saga-gwg.de

IBA Hamburg: Kristina Hödl, Head of the Press Office
Tel. +49 (0)40 6227-335, e-mail kristina.hoedl@iba-hamburg.de





SAGA GWG: standing for economic success and social benefits
We rent out 130,000 dwelling units and 1500 commercial properties. With our high investments in the development of Ham-burg’s districts, we are making a considerable contribution to improving the quality of urban life and safeguarding the assets of the Free and Hanseatic City. As a municipal enterprise, we pursue a balanced strategy of growth with a view to strengthening economic performance, while at the same time being committed to social benefits for the disadvantaged in Hamburg’s resi-dential districts and upholding standards of climate protection. This balance between economic success and social responsi-bility forms the essential basis for our success as a housing association and property management company.