The site of a former mirror factory is located between Wilhelminian housing on Lange Straße in the south-west and Dr.-Mack-Straße in the north-east near the water meadows on the river Pregnitz at Fürth’s city park. It is accessible from both streets and runs transversely to a storey-high drop in the terrain. The old forge is the only remaining building on the site. The programme was developed in close consultation with the future residents and in a dialogue with the city of Fürth. The building joint venture’s aspiration for community-oriented living in diverse and generation-spanning co-housing led to a mix of cooperative and owner-occupied accommodation. A housing cooperative was specially set up in which the owners are sustaining members. Of the eight sponsored apartments, four are available for refugees and several of the cooperative’s apartments are rented by the Lebenshilfe Fürth e.V. charity. The PEN-Club offers another apartment to exiled writes. A neighbourhood centre sponsored by the city serves as a hub for neighbourhood issues and local initiatives within the building. The Spiegelfabrik development provides a communal residential scheme with a social and environmental focus. It consists of two end buildings and a connecting building that is accessed along alternating balconies. The site’s special characteristics are exploited to set the proposed uses in a spatial context with the open spaces. These include different types and sizes of apartments in various locations, communal rooms, a workshop and a parking deck. A public path leads along the building connecting the two streets; the drop in the terrain is negotiated via a broad flight of steps, which also serves as an informal place to sit or it can double up as stands. The maximum utilisation of the plot and the resulting density defines three high-quality open spaces. They are a courtyard along one of the site boundaries, which is accessed from Lange Straße, a lower courtyard accessed via the public stairs and a garden at the former forge. The roof contains another communal area that is intended to be used as a garden. Sustainability plays a major role in the design, construction and operation of the Spiegelfabrik building, and also in neighbourly living.

Completed
2016-2021

The Baugruppe model is attractive in the context of rising rents in the central areas of the city and the development of new, experimental housing types. The after-use of the industrial site gives significant impetus to the urban neighbourhood’s transformation and the innovative form of housing lends it model character. The programme was developed in close consultation with the future residents and in a dialogue with the city of Fürth and local stakeholders. In this context the project has the potential to serve as a example for similar, community-oriented housing projects as well as for the transformation of former industrial sites into lively neighbourhoods.