Rodenkirchen residential complex
The residential park Rodenkirchen is a gated community close to the Rhine location in Cologne district Rodenkirchen . It comprises 333 residential units, spread over three seven-story low-rise buildings and a 16-story high-rise.
history
The Rodenkirchen residential park was built in 1967/1968 by the Concordia mutual insurance company as a rental residential complex according to plans by the architects Klaus Obertreis and Artur Gerard (the former office manager and partner of Fritz August Breuhaus de Groot ). Features such as an indoor swimming pool, garbage chutes, elevators, penthouses and an underground car park hidden under a central garden area were unusual at the time.
The Rodenkirchen residential park is predominantly viewed as a groundbreaking residential project of the 1960s. The Bayenthal residential park (1976–1981), the Uni-Center (1973–1974), the Colonia House (1972–1974) and the Rheinsternhaus (1976), which were built with comparable comfort, followed a similar concept .
The Rodenkirchen residential park was built on the site of the former "bleaching and finishing institute WJ Peters", where fabrics for technical needs were manufactured until the 1950s. After the company's insolvency, the site, which is located in the Auenviertel, which is characterized by the Wilhelminian style mansions and Bauhaus villas, was temporarily used as a shelter for the homeless. For the community of Rodenkirchen (not yet incorporated into Cologne until 1975) the residential park represented a repair of the district. The Concordia life insurance provided the community with money for the expansion of the school infrastructure, since the apartments in the residential park were primarily designed for families.
The architecture of the residential park is in the tradition of the " new building " with clear, grid-like forms. For the most part, prefabricated concrete parts were used in the construction. According to this procedure, several residential parks with similar form and construction were built in Germany; including the “ Cosimapark ” in Munich and the “Quartier 6” in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, which was built for members of the embassy .
In 1995, Colonia-Versicherung sold the residential park to the Sauer group of companies from Nuremberg, which divided it into condominiums and sales, mainly to former tenants. The residential park is now in free float .
Urban planning function
With its high-rise and low-rise buildings, the residential park forms a striking edge of the room at the southern end of the Rhine promenade. In terms of urban planning and architecture, the building complex can be seen as a counterpoint to the Alt St. Maternus church ; together with the Rodenkirchen Rhine bridge in the west, it forms a bracket around the Rheinaue, a popular local recreation area ("Rodenkirchener Riviera"). At the same time, the Rodenkirchen residential park marks the end of residential development and the beginning of the White Rhine Arc. The building permit granted by the municipality of Rodenkirchen in 1967 identifies the building complex as "Süddominante Rodenkirchen"; a name that expresses the urban development function. The arrangement of the five structures (four residential buildings plus swimming pool), which are at right angles to each other and clearly trace the edge of the block, is unusual for the time of construction. They stand in line with the tradition of the historically built city as the urban planning ideals of the post-war period, which, in reference to the Charter of Athens (CIAM), strictly rejected the formation of blocks and right angles and called for an "informal, freely composed" interlocking of buildings and landscape.
Technology and equipment
The four houses in the residential park are connected by an underground car park with 212 parking spaces. The indoor swimming pool, including an 18-meter pool, is also accessed via the underground car park. Each house is accessed via two elevators. Our own combined heat and power plant with gas connection has been generating electricity and heat since 2009. The indoor swimming pool has been heated by solar panels since 2011. The central "park" of the residential park, which was laid out between the buildings, with its open space design and water feature typical of the time, was removed in 2007 as part of a renovation that had not yet been completed. In 2015 and 2016 the balcony parapets were subjected to a comprehensive balcony renovation, with particular emphasis on the complete preservation of the architectural design.
Flood protection
Due to its location on the Rhine, the residential park was secured against flooding; for example through bulkhead doors between the houses and the underground car park. In addition, the ground floor level of the five buildings has been raised by approx. 2.60 meters compared to the neighboring buildings, so that the residential park protruded like an island from the flood even during the "floods of the century" in 1993 and 1995. The higher location of the residential park was concealed by the garden design. The foundations are connected with concrete stilts that extend ten meters into the depth. So far the maximum water level of the Rhine was 10.69 m Cologne water level (January 1995). At higher water levels / groundwater levels, the lower areas may have to be flooded if the statics are otherwise not guaranteed. Since 2008, a sheet pile wall built by the Cologne city drainage company (StEB), the head beam of which can be raised by mobile walls, has ensured flood security up to 11.30 meters at Cologne level. In 2007, opposite the residential park at Grüngürtelstraße 10, an elaborately designed combined pumping station was put into operation, which ensures the stability of the flood protection at water levels over 9.40 m and / or is intended to prevent flooding of the Auenviertel "from behind" in heavy rain. In 2010 the pumping station received an award from the NRW Chamber of Architects
In principle, intensive building work in risk zones such as the Auenviertel is to be assessed critically today because events above the design height can lead to hazards and situations in which, due to infrastructure failure (power failure, flow pressure, lack of accessibility, etc.), evacuations and supply services at the expense of the general public would be inevitable.
Individual evidence
- ^ Rodenkirchen, Forays through history. Official anniversary font for the 1000th anniversary. 1000 years of Rodenkirchen. 2nd Edition. District representation of the Rodenkirchen district, Cologne 1989.
- ^ Hans Bernhard Reichow : Organic city architecture. From the big city to the urban landscape. tape 1 . Westermann, Braunschweig 1948.
- ↑ Ute Nerger, Gabi Dolff-Bonekämper, Klaus Lingenauber: Freiraumgestaltung der 5034 - Idea and roots . Ed .: District Office Tiergarten of Berlin, Dept. of Building and Housing. Berlin 1995, p. 6-7 .
- ↑ Gabi Dolff-Bonekämper: The Hansaviertel . Ed .: Verlag Bauwesen - Berlin. Huss Medien GmbH, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-345-00639-1 , p. 5-19 .
- ↑ German Academy for Urban Development and Landscape Planning (Ed.): 40 Years of Urban Development 1945-1985 . 2 - Urban development and landscape planning in transition. Munich 1984.
- ↑ http://www.v-architekten.com/projekte-details/pwr.html#_5 Flood pumping station in Cologne-Rodenkirchen
- ↑ http://www.hochwasser.de/no_cache/buergerinitiative-hochwasser-aktuelles/news/article/29092010-architekturpreise-fuer-hochwasserschutz.html
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 53 ′ 29.4 ″ N , 7 ° 0 ′ 37.4 ″ E