Liebigstrasse Ehrenfeld

Mix Use - housing development 
Cologne, Germany

Client: BPD Immobilienentwicklung GmbH
Architect: Manuel Herz Architects, Basel
Project Team: Clement Blaszczyk, Fernando Diaz, Maxim Gabai, Manuel Herz, Alejandro Lopez, Claudia Melchor, Marta Montero, Benjamin Olschner, Isabella Pagliuca, Jonas Popp, Kelvin Silva
Visualizations: HHVISION

Diversity is the leitmotif for the design of the urban rede- velopment in Cologne Neu-Ehrenfeld. It is the declared goal to create a mixed, diverse, heterogeneous and lively city district with the help of urban planning and archi- tectural measures. For urban and urban quality, it is of paramount importance that we offer a new home to the young and old, families with children, childless couples and individuals, shared housing for the young and the elderly. The aim is to create buildings that are just as attractive to people with lower incomes as they are to people with higher incomes; buildings that attract an international as well as a traditional audience.

With this design, we want to give the district of Neu-Ehrenfeld a new impulse, which is very important in this specific place.This demographic mix and diversity is achieved by combining: different urban typologies, different housing typologies, different building heights, and quality private outdoor spaces as gardens, terraces and loggias.

  • The site, covering a complete urban block, is located in the Liebigstraße in Cologne, Neu-Ehrenfeld. The street Liebigstraße runs through the quarter in east-west direc- tion and connects the two districts of Neu-Ehrenfeld and Nippes. If you drive along the Liebigstraße from the west, the project area marks a void and interruption in the pre- dominant urban perimeter block structure.The area is characterised by extensive large format commercial areas, such as the former slaughterhouse, supermarkets and car dealerships.The lot has a combined size of around 12’000 square meters.Towards the street Methweg a perimeter block fragment still exists that opens to the property.

    The existing perimeter block development of the urban context will be continued along the two streets of Liebigstraße and Pettenkoferstraße.The street space thus becomes coherent and creates a connection between the two adjacent districts.The five-story building height is based on the eaves heights of the neighboring buildings.

    The courtyards of the perimeter block typology, that are so typical for Cologne, have very different uses, ranging from private terraces, to community gardens as well as small businesses and workshops.The inner structure is usually two to three storeys lower than the buildings along the streets, giving room for sufficient light exposure and offers a high quality of life.These courtyards are a model for the internal development of the new redevelopment project. The inner carpet-like development of townhouses stands in contrast to the linear row development of the block border.With one to three storeys it is much lower and creates a high degree of individuality and privacy within the block.