Residential Development
"Auwiesen"

Architectural- and investor competition for the residential development "Auwiesen" in Wangen im Allgäu

The city of Wangen im Allgäu is host of the Baden-Württemberg “Landesgartenschau” 2024. On the outskirts of the horticultural show, a new, attractive residential area is to be built in the Auwiesen on four possible construction sites with a total of 15,700 m². The new development is to represent an important contribution to the exhibition for the topics of innovation timber construction, sustainable construction and future-oriented building forms.

The subject of the investor competition was the development of an adequate functional and architectural concept, which is well marketable and realizable within the budgetary constraints of an investor and offered together with an end-investor.

The challenge for the team was, among other things, to take into account the dimensions of the plots and the high-water situation, as well as to fulfill the wishes for high-quality and economical timber construction.

To achieve this goal, W+P mbH formed a bidding consortium consisting of its architect sister company PLAN FORWARD GmbH and the GWG Group as investor. As a result of the cooperation, the bidding consortium was awarded the 3rd prize for its concept developed for building lots three and four.

Urban concept

The planned development is adapted to the existing residential buildings in the surrounding area and presents itself coherently as a whole. All buildings are planned and arranged in such a way that there is a consistent orientation of the buildings and the visual axes from the living spaces into nature. The permeability is also maintained for the rear buildings facing the river. This emphasizes the interlocking of green and landscape space.

Shaping of the buildings

In order to achieve the desired good social mix and an attractive housing offer, different building types were planned - a mixture of single-family and townhouses as well as apartments with pergola access. All building types are planned in the timber modular construction method elevated on pedestals. The pedestals in solid construction serve as flood protection for the buildings above and at the same time they are used for the underground parking. They also create additional quality of living through seating steps and small meeting areas. All apartments and houses are equipped with terraces and/or balconies.

In addition, an architecturally appealing eight-story building with non-overlapping balconies is planned, which represents a clear landmark building for the new residential area Auwiesen and forms a visual connection to the already existing high-rise development on the Südring. It clearly shows that higher construction, which is sustainable in terms of land usage, can be attractively planned and impressively visualizes the possibilities of modular timber construction.

Parking concept and electric mobility

Parking spaces are accommodated in the underground garages. The layout of the driveways minimizes the impact of traffic on the residents. Only a few parking spaces for guests will be situated above ground. Charging infrastructure will be installed in the underground garages as well as for selected outside parking spaces.

Roof areas, photovoltaics and “Wiesenstadt”

The roof areas are planned as green roofs with areas for photovoltaics. The open spaces of the properties will be landscaped with wildflower and orchard meadows, residents' gardens and recreational areas. This prevents monocultures and creates new habitats.

CO²-optimized modular timber construction on site

The aim was to minimize the consumption of resources not only in the selection of raw materials, but also in the production process itself. In order to combine the advantage of the wood module construction method with the optimized transport volume of traditional manufacturing and thus truly CO²-optimized wood module construction, a mobile wood module factory to assemble the, was planned on site.