After the end of the Second World War the center of Frankfurt was almost completely destroyed with the exception of a few historical buildings such as the town hall and St. Mary's Church. The socialist redesign concept focused on the newly created highway in combination with simple row development in the rear area.

The former fragmentation and liveliness of Frankfurt's old town disappeared, as did the connection between the large green areas of Lennépark and the banks of the river Oder. In connection with the massive population decline after the fall of communism, the faceless suburban character of the center of Frankfurt became an increasing problem.

An open space competition launched in 2014 aimed to upgrade four blocks of flats between Lennépark and the main road and to counteract some of the problems. The aim was a consistent outdoor space concept in conjunction with the dismantling of barrier-forming rows.

The quarter shown here forms the semi-public starting block of this zone and consisted of seven WBS-70 blocks with partial functional underlay. Functionally, these were designed as outdoor arcades and consisted exclusively of one-room apartments, which are now difficult to market. After dismantling one of the blocks, the aim was to transform the remaining ensemble into a contemporary urban building block that meets the requirements of its special urban development status. The existing facade structure of the external arcades was largely left in place, but the design was combined to form offset window bands.

The ground floors were revitalized - a café by the park, a day care center and a care center were integrated and, together with the community school, which has been converted into a city archive, and the daycare center next door, form a mixed-use focus.

The existing blocks, which are staggered in height, were made completely barrier-free using just three elevators, which were designed as so called „through-loaders“. A diverse mix of one to four-room apartments was developed from the monothematic one-room apartments, most of which were empty.

Category: Living, Open Space
Client: Housing industry Frankfurt (Oder)

Design: Hendrik Heine

Services: General planning Lph 2 - 8
Project partners: Planning office Unger, electrical planning Mayer und Partner, engineering office Baumsteiger, Hauptmann & Blacha, hutterreimann Landschaftsarchitektur GmbH, BAUEN-WEBER ing.unternehmen
Completion: 2022
Living space: approx. 5.400 m²
Commercial units: 3
Residential units: 98

Photos: architectural photographer Steffen Spitzner