Bremen „Buntentor“
short description
This project has been put into the archive. The project details will not be updated anymore.
Context
Source: Weeber+Partner
The Buntentor neighbourhood is in the urban district of Neustadt on the left bank of the Weser in the city of Bremen (pop. 547,000). The urban district developed as a typical old suburb. The Buntentor neighbourhood is characterised by a high building density, a diverse mix of housing and commerce, and a fragmented range of shops and services. There is a small park and several lakes. Many elderly people also use Buntenhof cemetery as a park.
The urban district is easily accessible with trams and bus lines. Bikes are also an important means of transport for elderly people in the neighbourhood.
The buildings are mostly homogenous multi-storey enclosed blocks. The "Bremer Haus" is characterised by row building. The housing units are distributed over several levels. Because the rooms are small but high, they require steep stairways inside with narrow steps. Compared to other neighbourhoods with old buildings, there is a high percentage of owner-occupiers who have lived there for many decades. More or less big courtyards also belong to the buildings, some of them with gardens and front gardens. The quality of the immediate living environment was limited because of flowing traffic and parked cars (pavement parking), especially in the narrow residential streets. The project was assisted and evaluated between 1989 and 1992 as a model plan in the research project "Ältere Menschen und ihr Wohnquartier" (Elderly People and their Neighbourhood) in the federal research programme "Experimenteller Wohnungs- und Städtebau" (Experimental Residential and Urban Development) - ExWoSt.
Project description
Source: Weeber+Partner
In order to improve the living situation, particularly for elderly people, counselling and adaptation measures were carried out. A housing advice office was set up in a shop. Here, an architect and a social worker offered consultation services over a period of two years. They also provided information on assistance possibilities in home visits and worked out customised building solutions. Support was even provided for clarifying finance issues and for identifying further advice and support requirements. Additionally, the team accompanied the adaptation measures.
Another focus was the design of the living environment. The measures included the redesign of public places and green areas and providing seating in green areas near the street. The pavement was broadened and new arrangements were made for car parking. Finally, additional pedestrian crossings with traffic lights were made.
A need for action could be seen with regard to social and nursing services and specific housing offers for elderly people who could not live in their familiar home any more. For this reason, the housing complex with serviced flats and the meeting place Buntentor was established in 1993. It is directly next to a former brewery with new uses (such as city gallery and "Junges Theater" - a young theatre). The Arbeiterwohlfahrt AWO (Worker's Welfare Association) provides the outpatient care of the housing complex residents. Additional services such as neighbourhood assistance, having lunch together and emergency services for the residents are also available there. A public meeting place offering a wide range of events and the AWO's consultation hours are also integrated. The AWO operates a service centre in the urban district of Neustadt. Besides counselling and care, there is an agency for neighbourly assistance for domestic tasks.
An attractive new residential area at the "Kleine Weser" and the building of the "Beginenhof" (2001/2002) are further contributions to developing the neighbourhood's potential.
Project chronology
Year | Event |
---|---|
1988 to 1991 | Preparatory inspections |
1989 | Official determination of the redevelopment area |
1990 to 1992 | ExWoSt model plan in the research project "Elderly People and their Neighbourhood" |
1993 | Housing complex with serviced flats and meeting place Buntentor |
2002 | Completion of the Beginenhof |
Aims
Source: Weeber+Partner
- Improvement of the conditions for elderly people in the neighbourhood
- Support for elderly people to live independently
- Creating structures for neighbourly communication and support
Types of measures
Source: Weeber+Partner
- Housing advice office in the neighbourhood
- Adapting housing to the needs of elderly people
- Improvement of the living environment, not only for elderly people
- Newly built housing complex with serviced flats/meeting point
- Supplementing the social infrastructure
Innovations
Source: Weeber+Partner
Thanks to the model plan, diverse tasks in connection with life in old age were taken up which have since become common practice and have been integrated into the plan for the elderly people of the city community of Bremen. This applies to the bundling of the tasks in the office for social services, to serviced housing and in particular to housing advice, adaptation of flats and barrier-free housing. In the model plan, the neighbourhood scale turned out to be too restrictive for housing advice. This is why the advice centre for barrier-free building and living, 'kom.fort', with a barrier-free show flat was established in a further neighbourhood in 2003. In 2005, the non-profit association kom.fort e.V. took over the operation. The services such as checking the flats, counselling and training were requested by elderly and disabled people and their relatives. But also associations, hospitals, training institutions for nursing etc. are happy to take advantage of these services.
Sources
- Gabriele Steffen, Dorothee Baumann, Antje Fritz: Attraktive Stadtquartiere für das Leben im Alter (Attractive urban neighbourhoods for life in old age). In: Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, Bauforschung für die Praxis (Building research for practical application), Volume 82, Stuttgart 2007
- Wohnen im Alter in BRemen (Living in old age in Bremen), Issue 2006/2007. Special edition rostfrei (the Bremen magazine for the elderly) in cooperation with kom.fort, the advice office for barrier-free housing, promoted by the Department for Elderly People of the Senator for Labour, Women, Health, Youth and Social Affairs, Bremen 2006
- Ministry for Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development (1995): Living in old age- at home in the neighbourhood. Research project of the Experimental Residential and Urban Development. Bonn.
- Senator for Health, Youth and Social Affairs; Senator for Building in Bremen: Elderly People and their Buntentor neighbourhood - Final Report. Editing: Renate Siegel, Renate Viets. Bremen, June 1992.
- Neustadt – surprisingly different. In: Bremen and its urban districts
Further information
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 28201 - town: Bremen - street: Buntentorsteinweg 104/114.
Poject site on Google-Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/z4dwtJHaWsL2
Last update: 21.02.2018