Allmende Wulfsdorf is another project which has benefited from the services of ConPlan. The 4.6 Ha site, containing several existing buildings including housing, a gymnasium, and a youth camp, was bought in 2000 by 4 people. They formed a trust, expanded the group, and with grants and cheap loans from the city and the government began renovating the existing housing blocks and building new buildings.
The local council wanted more services in the area, and required that 40% of the buildings be for business premises. Although this project is located in an area where there are several other communities and projects including a Demeter farm and a nature sanctuary, there is no obvious local density of population to support this range of services, and relies on people coming from further afield. However I was assured that bicycle use and public transport mean that not everyone has to use their cars to travel there.
A large new health centre is at the entrance to the site, with rooms for a variety of health practitioners. There is a kindergarten adjacent to the entrance. The
group was approached by a local undertaker wishing to build new premises, and after initial reluctance they agreed to include this business. The attractive premises are now available for meetings and other events as well as their core business, and have regular art displays. The old youth camp buildings are being renovated for use of small businesses including finance, lawyers, software, and as an artists’ quarter, housing a variety of creative ventures.
There are now 100 units inhabited by 250 people (1/3 of them children), a new youth house is almost finished, and a community building is being planned. I was struck by the lack of external private space, with freestanding 4 & 5 story buildings set apart in park-like grounds. In fact they have a firm rule that forbids fences, even though many ground-level units do have small personalised areas around their units. While the houses are in individual ownership, the ground is owned by all, with residents having the right to go anywhere on the grounds including on the terraces. Julia explained that Germans in general don't have the same need as New Zealanders for external privacy, and there is no direc
t translation into German of the word “privacy”.
Every building has a 5 metre strip around it that is communal land for that building and controlled by agreement of the residents of that building. All other areas are owned by the community, with decision-making by the whole group. There is little formal community life however. A social event held once a month in the gymnasium attracts only 30 – 35 people, although it is used for many sports events and tournaments including by members of the wider community. It is hoped that the young people, who have little else to do in the area and yearn for the big city of Hamburg, will be happier once the straw bale youth house is completed. Many residents question the need and the expense of the planned community house, but without a neutral place to meet it is much harder for that sense of cohesive community to flourish.
In terms of sustainability, the buildings collect rainwater for use in washing machines and WCs. The 2 new housing blocks are oriented to south for passive solar gain. Insulation levels are higher than standard, assisted by a cheap government loan, and photovoltaic panels are planned for the future. Cars are parked away from houses, and as I saw all over both Germany and Denmark, much use was made of bicycles for transporting both people and goods.
This project was the most extensive I saw in incorporating businesses into a community. Due to the language difficulties I was unable to pursue much in-depth enquiry into how these were funded and how they integrated with the housing. They seemed somewhat isolated from any local town centre, relying on intentional trips to make use of the services rather than passing foot traffic. As this is a new and still developing project, it will be interesting to see how successful these businesses are into the future.
The local council wanted more services in the area, and required that 40% of the buildings be for business premises. Although this project is located in an area where there are several other communities and projects including a Demeter farm and a nature sanctuary, there is no obvious local density of population to support this range of services, and relies on people coming from further afield. However I was assured that bicycle use and public transport mean that not everyone has to use their cars to travel there.
A large new health centre is at the entrance to the site, with rooms for a variety of health practitioners. There is a kindergarten adjacent to the entrance. The
group was approached by a local undertaker wishing to build new premises, and after initial reluctance they agreed to include this business. The attractive premises are now available for meetings and other events as well as their core business, and have regular art displays. The old youth camp buildings are being renovated for use of small businesses including finance, lawyers, software, and as an artists’ quarter, housing a variety of creative ventures.There are now 100 units inhabited by 250 people (1/3 of them children), a new youth house is almost finished, and a community building is being planned. I was struck by the lack of external private space, with freestanding 4 & 5 story buildings set apart in park-like grounds. In fact they have a firm rule that forbids fences, even though many ground-level units do have small personalised areas around their units. While the houses are in individual ownership, the ground is owned by all, with residents having the right to go anywhere on the grounds including on the terraces. Julia explained that Germans in general don't have the same need as New Zealanders for external privacy, and there is no direc
t translation into German of the word “privacy”.Every building has a 5 metre strip around it that is communal land for that building and controlled by agreement of the residents of that building. All other areas are owned by the community, with decision-making by the whole group. There is little formal community life however. A social event held once a month in the gymnasium attracts only 30 – 35 people, although it is used for many sports events and tournaments including by members of the wider community. It is hoped that the young people, who have little else to do in the area and yearn for the big city of Hamburg, will be happier once the straw bale youth house is completed. Many residents question the need and the expense of the planned community house, but without a neutral place to meet it is much harder for that sense of cohesive community to flourish.
In terms of sustainability, the buildings collect rainwater for use in washing machines and WCs. The 2 new housing blocks are oriented to south for passive solar gain. Insulation levels are higher than standard, assisted by a cheap government loan, and photovoltaic panels are planned for the future. Cars are parked away from houses, and as I saw all over both Germany and Denmark, much use was made of bicycles for transporting both people and goods.
This project was the most extensive I saw in incorporating businesses into a community. Due to the language difficulties I was unable to pursue much in-depth enquiry into how these were funded and how they integrated with the housing. They seemed somewhat isolated from any local town centre, relying on intentional trips to make use of the services rather than passing foot traffic. As this is a new and still developing project, it will be interesting to see how successful these businesses are into the future.
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