Franklin Village", one of the first large-scale socially and ecologically developed residential projects in Germany, is to be built on the "Franklin" conversion site in Mannheim. The idea is to build a quarter in timber construction that claims to be ecologically and socially sustainable. The project developers will celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony in mid-September with an artistically designed parade of diversity.
It takes about ten trees (three cubic meters of wood) to build a single-family house from wood; the Berlin architects Sauerbruch Hutton need about 2,500 trees to build the exemplary residential quarter of Mannheim. Around 750 tons of CO 2 is bound up in this amount of wood, which, according to one calculation, grows again in Germany in less than six minutes. The architecture, social concept and affordability of the residential quarter for around 200 people in the centre of the Franklin conversion area in Mannheim are to be just as sustainable as the building material. At just under eight euros per square meter of living space, some of the 90 apartments will be available once the entire project is sold to a foundation.
Just a few years ago, "Franklin" was one of the largest residential areas of the US Army in Germany. The city of Mannheim wants to see the topics of "social mix", "inclusion", "open space & urbanity", "urban development & architecture" and "energy & mobility" solved in an exemplary manner in a newly emerging district here. A concept tender was held for a central building area measuring 100 by 68 metres at the heart of the site, which was won by the partnership Innovatio / Profund / Sauerbruch Hutton Architekten. The winners of the tender are taking on the task of implementing "urban development of the future". Profund, based in Gera, Thuringia, is responsible for the construction and Innovatio (Heidelberg/Essen) for the project development. Profund sees itself as a strong real estate specialist, while Innovatio claims to think and realise social space design and sustainable neighbourhood development for the post-industrial age of cities.
As the project developer, Innovatio provides the conceptual framework for the large-scale project, speaking of "inclusively functioning urban quarters that carry the multi-generational idea within them". Keywords here are: Home, identification, diversity, lively neighbourhood, caring community, participation and overall sustainability. You could also say a village in the city. In practice, this means: various communal areas, including a neighbourhood forum with a large multi-functional room and kitchen, a fireplace room and
a large community terrace. Professional neighbourhood management, a differentiated mix of apartments for singles (including senior citizens) and couples as well as for large families, workshops, co-working, a large playroom, a barbecue area on the roof garden, the shady neighbourhood square designed by Urban Gardening - much of it organised by a neighbourhood app. Cluster apartments for people with assistance needs, care services and volunteer concepts are just as much a part of it as car-sharing.
Architecturally, the entire residential quarter was developed exclusively in constructive timber construction. The "Franklin Village" project is the largest timber construction project in Mannheim and one of the largest in the country. It is intended to serve as a model for "timber construction in multi-storey housing".
This will be a lighthouse project, because the material "wood" in construction makes a significant contribution to the energy transition and to minimizing CO2 emissions. Through the use of e-mobility, car sharing and photovoltaics, Franklin Village will also make a lasting contribution to CO2 reduction. The awarding of the project for its model character and its innovative strength in timber construction by the European funding fund EFRE and the state ministry for rural areas, confirms the consistent efforts of the project developers. The inclusion in the exhibition "Urbainable - Positions on the European City for the 21st Century" by the Berlin Academy of Arts, which opened in September 2020, underlines the exemplary nature of the project.
The project's sustainability concept is reflected in the architecture, and not only in the timber construction. An exemplary landscape architecture characterizes the green inner courtyard, which, together with the open neighbourhood square, forms spaces for neighbourly encounters. Not only the timber construction, but also all other building materials are ecological. District heating and photovoltaics provide electricity for self-consumption, everything is managed by a digital energy controlling system. The "future of living" emerges as an interplay of responsibility, awareness and communication, proclaim the makers. "We are happy that we are not only allowed to develop and build something so trend-setting, but that we are also allowed and expected to implement the overall concept of Franklin Village, so that it can become good," says Innovatio, which, at least in the first few years, will also take over the neighborhood management including the founding of the neighborhood association. "Those who proclaim sustainability should act sustainably themselves," say the project developers.
Source: PM franklin-village.com (Mannheim) from 16.09.2020
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Wood construction, News Blog Baden-Württemberg
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