Making Heimat. Germany, Arrival Country

A former office building will be converted into a permanent residence to accommodate refugees, and refugee families in particular. A total of five apartments of differing sizes will be built in order to react flexibly to families’ needs.
Because of the building’s self-supporting construction method, all the walls built into the conversion will be drywall. The large glass surfaces will be partially removed to ensure more protection of the private sphere. All necessary infrastructure like power, gas, water, and drainage can be installed without major expense in the existing double-bottom floor of the former open-plan office.
The site’s two main elements are the shared interior courtyard and the garden terrace. The idea for the project emerged over the course of multiple discussions with asylum seekers from Syria and Afghanistan, as well as local residents with a migration background.
The introverted interior courtyard functions as a semi-public community room for social and intercultural exchange. It can also be used as a retreat space for prayer, or as a protected play area for children.
The garden terrace, with raised planters for crops, serves as a productive recreation opportunity for residents. Beyond the social dimension of shared gardening, residents can plant crops for their own personal use.
The consulting on cultural uses, technical details, planting and vegetables was provided by Mustafa Aziz, an agricultural engineer from Syria, who fled six months ago with his wife. The team of Mehmet Batan, who came to Germany in the early 1990s as an asylum seeker, is responsible for carrying out the construction of the project.
(Excerpt from project description)