The first young residents moved into the new house on Heinrich-Heine-Straße back in May. Now the project is celebrating another important milestone with the official opening. On behalf of the umbrella association Kolping Jugendwohnen e.V., the Berlin architectural firm DMSW has built a new building with around 100 single rooms for young trainees, common rooms and offices for educational care. The building creates a place in Berlin-Mitte where affordable housing, community and socio-educational support come together in the capital.
At the intersection of Heinrich-Heine-Strasse and Dresdener Strasse, DMSW's six-storey new building has been built on a gross floor area of over 4,500 square metres. The housing offer for trainees is complemented by spacious communal kitchens, learning and recreation rooms, barrier-free living facilities and a variety of rooms for gathering, exchanging ideas and learning and living together. "Our aim was to design places that support young people on their way to a self-determined life. Because architecture can do more than create affordable housing. It can also enable encounters and create community at the same time. In this sense, we see architecture as a social tool – and this house as a concrete contribution to social cohesion," says Julia Dahlhaus, architect and managing director of DMSW, explaining the basic idea behind the project.
With its bent shape, the six-storey building with a recessed staggered storey takes up the corner situation at the intersection and completes the planned inner-city block development along the street. On the ground floor there are communal areas, administration rooms and an outdoor area with a fitness facility. On the residential floors, eat-in kitchens promote togetherness and serve as central lounges. All residents have a compact residential unit with their own bathroom. The staggered floor contains seminar rooms, a meeting room and a spacious roof terrace.
During the planning, special emphasis was placed on energy-efficient construction. Solar thermal systems on the roofs, an innovative heating system and the use of greywater are part of the building's integral overall concept and enable environmentally friendly energy generation. The new building was built as a KfW 55 energy efficiency house.
With great solidarity and active commitment, this project has been supported and carried over the years through fundraising campaigns, events and personal initiatives, especially on the part of the entire Kolping Family. Henrik Beer, Managing Director of Kolping Jugendwohnen Berlin-Mitte gGmbH: "With the new Kolping Jugendwohnen Berlin-Mitte building, our capital will be supplemented by a housing offer that is particularly tailored to the needs of trainees. Especially in times of scarce housing, such an offer can help to make it easier for young people to start their training and professional lives."
