160 years as a productive city

Even when the now-disused factory buildings were first built, the founders took a holistic approach, with the workers from the spinning mill living and working in what resembled a village on the factory site. The current owners are now working together with IBA’27 on concepts to repurpose the site with a nod to its history. 

Industrial history was made in Wendlingen-Unterboihingen when textiles firm Otto Textil first used the hydropower of the Neckar river to produce yarns in 1861. Manufacturing for the whole of Germany continued until 2020. Not only was the historical spinning mill on the Neckar using ground-breaking technical equipment, it was also facilitating a whole new way of living. The site was energy self-sufficient, with its own church, vicarage and housing for workers. This meant that instead of walking a long way to work, the workers were able to relax by the river. This concept inspired the framework for a sustainable repurposing of the listed group of buildings and the urban planning workshop procedure. The winning design is based on continuing the existing orthogonal factory structure with sturdy and adaptable buildings that are sympathetic to the existing setting. Solid plinths for the buildings will ensure space for manufacturing and commercial use in large halls without the use of pillars. On top of these will be light timber-based constructions designed to conserve resources and offer flexible floor plans. Green open spaces will run down to the Neckar river, turning the riverbank into an attractive park. In this way, housing and work, culture, trade and leisure will be combined through high-density mixed use, thus continuing the story of life in a listed industrial site into the future. 

Facts and Figures

Contact

Project initiator

HOS Projektentwicklung GmbH
Schäferhauser Str. 2
73240 Wendlingen
Phone: +49 7024 9 46 0
info@hos-gruppe.de
www.hos-gruppe.de

IBA’27 Project manager

Dr. Raquel Jaureguízar

Aerial View