Topping out for the self-build house

Since noon today, there has been a topping out wreath on yet another IBA project in Wilhelmsburg Mitte. At 11.00 hrs on Wednesday, 5 September 2012, building owners Achim Nagel and Manfred König and Jutta Blankau, Senator for Urban Development  and Environment, IBA managing director Uli Hellweg, Jörg Leeser, architect with the BeL Sozietät für Architektur and all the construction workers and tradespeople gathered to celebrate the visible progress in the IBA project "Basic Building and Settlers".

The idea behind "Basic Building and Settlers" is self-build: future users construct their buildings in stages to suit their own requirements. The building is carried out in two construction stages. In the first stage, the future inhabitants are provided with the supporting construction and shell, the supporting ceilings and the connections for the building services - in other words, the basic building. Everything that is needed for building a home is taken care of: scaffolding, installation lines and development. In the second stage, the residents can build their apartments as they want and create their own layouts - decide where they want the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom; the choice is theirs. Users can give the room systems the functions they want; the apartments can be flexibly adapted to various requirements, and a direct reference created to an entirely individual dwelling. The concept also makes provisions for individual changes in use, perhaps when a new baby comes along or if there is a change in user. This is possible because the individual apartments are independent of the supporting structure and the neighbouring storeys.

Hamburg, 5 September 2012 – The project "Basic Building and Settler" is about building inexpensive yet high quality homes on the principle of "Do it yourself". “This idea is quite unusual in Germany. It enables people who would not otherwise be able to afford to, to create their own property themselves. This innovative approach is perfect for the IBA and for Wilhelmsburg," said Jutta Blankau, Senator for Urban Development and Environment at the festive topping out ceremony.

A self-build block with 8 to 12 apartments on a total of four storeys is constructed on a gross floor area of 1670 m². The spatial organisation is independent of the supporting structure, and means that the apartments can be laid out individually – as, when and how it suits the occupants. Accordingly, the building structure has room for apartments of different sizes; the sizes of the units can vary between 40 and 130 m². Covered outdoor areas and reserved areas for further building and conversions are possible, and the open basic structure offers flexible use that is tailored to the future users over a long period of time. Depending on the building size, the upper storeys will contain up to three apartments that are connected by a central stairwell and a lift that is also suitable for transporting loads. The technical areas are in the basement, as are open areas and storage rooms that the future occupants can also use as workshops.

Jörg Leeser, architect with BeL Sozietät für Architektur: "The layouts of the apartments mean that they can be used in many different ways without having to make structural changes. We included the occupants' personal ideas in the plans at our workshop meetings."

The design by BeL Sozietät für Architektur of Cologne is based on the principle of self-build, which enables a project to be carried out expensively. The builders believe that this method will significantly reduce costs, and thus enable lower-income group to acquire their own property, or else to rent more affordably. "The settler principle is offered for both privately owned and rental apartments with "Basic building and settler". Builder Achim Nagel said, “Having developed the layouts with the settlers in recent months, which has - pleasingly - resulted in the formation of a kind of "settler building community", we now want to try the same with the six remaining rental apartments."

Energy is supplied by connection to the local heating network energy association Wilhelmsburg Mitte. There is a district heating transmission statement in the basement. The residential units are 30% lower than the requirements of the energy conservation regulation for buildings.

"The project 'Basic Building and Settler' is the perfect example of how intelligent planning and inexpensive implementation can be combined with flexible usage for the sake of sustainability, and go hand-in-hand over a long period of time. I am delighted that today's topping out ceremony is yet another milestone for this exceptional project," said IBA managing director Uli Hellweg. "With the concepts of the 'Smart Price Houses', the IBA Hamburg shows affordable townhouses that enable middle- and lower-income families to buy or rent inner-city properties. Four Smart Price designs are to be realised by 2013."

A total of four residential constructions for the future of the metropolis will be built within the park of the international garden show igs 2013 to help find pioneering solutions for home-building in the 21st century. In this form, they should continue to serve as showpieces and objects for discussion long after completion, and establish a new building typology. So the 'Building exhibition within a building exhibition' will become the 'Case Study Houses'' of the 21st century, ready to face the challenges of our time with regard to sustainable building and living together.

You will find current images of the event and visualisations at the following link:
Link: http://iba-hamburg.eyebase.com
Pin-Code: CTgpnvEC

In the event of any queries please contact:

IBA Hamburg GmbH, Kristina Hödl, Director Press Office, kristina.hoedl@iba-hamburg.de, tel.: 040 2262 27335, or Anna Vietinghoff, Press Office,

anna.vietinghoff@iba-hamburg.de, tel: 040 2262 27331 or presse@iba-hamburg.de

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