Quartier Hohenlind

Living space for Cologne

Many people in the growing metropolis of Cologne are looking for suitable living space. Demand has outstripped supply for years. Densification is difficult, open spaces for new buildings are rare. This makes it all the more necessary to check whether the open spaces available in the city are suitable for residential development. This is what the city has done for the approximately nine hectares in Cologne-Hohenlind between Werthmanstrasse in the north, Militärringstrasse in the west, Bachemerstrasse in the south and a green area in the east. The city’s considerations are reflected in the decision to approve a development plan for this area, which will enable the creation of a new residential quarter. The clients of the project are the Benedict Kreutz Foundation and the Caritas Foundation Germany, represented by the Gesellschaft für Anstaltskredit mbH, which is based in Cologne.

Photo @Greif &Contzen Immobilien GmbH

Outside the development areaplan, but directly adjacent to it, is a plot of land that also belongs to the Hohenlind district. A parking garage and an apartment block with 23 apartments are to be built there. Quartier Hohenlind is being realized in several sub-projects. The first sub-project comprises two construction phases. In the first construction phase, a multi-storey parking lot, apartments and the energy center for the Hohenlind district are to be built.

The energy center
The energy center is the heart of the energy-efficient heat supply for the entire district. A buffer storage tank over 16 meters long is waiting to be used in a combined heat and power plant. The reservoir, which weighs around 14 tons, holds over 100 cubic metres (100,000 liters) of water – enough for the entire district. This buffer will soon be storing and providing heat when the residents turn on the heating and hot water. In addition to heat, the combined heat and power plant produces electricity, which is fed into the public grid.

Town houses with 140 apartments
Twelve townhouses with a total of 140 apartments are already under construction. At the topping-out ceremony, Foundation Director Natascha Peters and her colleague from Freiburg, Foundation Director Dietmar Bühler, welcomed the guests and outlined the aim of the Hohenlind quarter: The aim is to create a lively, urban and multifaceted residential quarter for several hundred people. “A residential area that makes many different types of housing possible, with space for a daycare center and a school. All linked by a uniform architectural concept, broken up with green spaces and playgrounds,” says Peters.

Photo @Astoc Architects and Planners

Photo @Astoc Architects and Planners

Photo @Astoc Architects and Planners

Mobility and energy implemented sustainably
The urban development concept for the new district and the architectural planning were created by the renowned Cologne-based architectural firm ASTOC Architects and Planners. In collaboration with 3+Freiraumplaner and the traffic planning office BSV from Aachen, they took part in the competition for the complex planning of the district – and emerged as the winner. In the Hohenlind district, the architects have combined the planning of the various residential formats with aspects of sustainability, resource conservation and energy saving. This is due not only to the local heating system with its low primary energy consumption, but also to the sustainable building materials and the solid exterior walls made of fired bricks, which allow photovoltaics to be used at a later date.

Cost-saving and energy-efficient
When heating or hot water is requested from the tap and shower head in the Hohenlind district in future, there is a sustainable and cost-efficient solution behind it: a gas-based combined heat and power plant. A separate energy center will be built on an area of around 160 square meters. The fact that the rooms in the control center have a ceiling height of over five meters is hardly noticeable, as the energy center will be built underground and only some of the ancillary facilities will be visible above ground. The combined heat and power plant building blends harmoniously into its surroundings. From the energy center, the houses are connected via a network of pipes and all buildings in the district, as well as some existing buildings in the immediate vicinity, can be supplied with local heating. Whether owned or rented: No one has to worry about which energy supplier is best to use with which concept. break. Moving into a new home can be that easy.

The centralized heat supply also saves space and costs, as there is no need for a central heating system in the houses. And the combined heat and power plant is also good for the climate, as the energy center in the Hohenlind district is low in emissions: it achieves an excellent primary energy factor thanks to the efficient use of gas as the primary energy source in the combined heat and power plant. The combined heat and power plant not only supplies the entire neighborhood with hot water, but also produces electricity using cogeneration, which is fed into the general power grid. The decision to install the combined heat and power plant means that the Hohenlind district is now state of the art in terms of energy. Hand in hand with the mobility concept, the energy concept makes a sustainable contribution to protecting the environment and is cost-efficient for the residents of the neighborhood.

Swift implementation of the construction project
In the first construction phase, the Lupp Group from Nidda in Hesse was commissioned with the turnkey construction of a four-storey apartment building including an underground garage and a parking garage. In a separate second construction phase, Lupp will also build twelve turnkey apartment buildings on a shared underground parking garage. Although these are two different construction phases, they have been realized in parallel since early summer 2021. All residential units in the project will have ClimaLevel underfloor heating, which provides the basis for efficient operation of the heat supply. For this project with its ambitious timetable, Lupp is relying on its proven collaboration with the Cologne-based company, ClimaLevel Energiesysteme GmbH. ClimaLevel is responsible for planning and installing the underfloor heating. Depending on the timing of the project progress, up to 2,000 m2 of underfloor heating is installed per week.

Mobility concept
A special mobility concept has been developed for the Hohenlind district, which includes a high-speed cycle path, sharing components and e-charging stations and will also provide sufficient space for bicycles and cargo bikes. Quartier Hohenlind wants to promote environmentally friendly mobility and provide residents with corresponding offers. Of course, everyone can decide for themselves whether and how to use different means of transportation. However, getting rid of your own car is somewhat easier in the Hohenlind district than in other urban districts.

Living space for around 700 people
Following the start of marketing for the building plots (see www.qhl-baugrundstuecke.de), tenants are being sought for the apartments and apartment buildings – also known as “townhouses”. The broker tender for this is currently underway. As soon as marketing starts, this will be posted on www.quartier-hohenlind.de.