Tobias-Mayer-Quartier
Together in the garden city
In the north of Esslingen, Esslinger Wohnungsbau GmbH (EWB) and Baugenossenschaft Esslingen eG (BGE) are working together with housing initiative AlWo to create a socially sustainable residential area. Existing buildings and new buildings will form a green oasis with a large share of affordable housing to promote a strong sense of community.
If you take the S-Bahn to Esslingen am Neckar and walk uphill through the laneways of the old town, above Esslingen’s castle (Esslinger Burg) you will arrive at Hohenkreuz, a part of town that houses the historical Palmscher Park. In future, the adjacent residential quarter between Tobias-Mayer-Straße and Palmstraße will be transformed into a colourful neighbourhood where people can meet to work in community gardens, repair bikes, play or celebrate.
The plans for the new neighbourhood are based on a multi-stage selection procedure. The project initiator, future residents and municipal authorities have decided on the outcome: groups of urban buildings of up to eight storeys high will be concentrated at the edges of the neighbourhood, leaving space at the centre of the neighbourhood for diverse green spaces with communal squares, courtyards and gardens. While the central »Palmpromenade« will link the garden field to the neighbourhood, making it a place where everyone can meet, the ground floors will be opened up to the neighbourhood with commercial, community and studio spaces.
The first construction phase will comprise a high L-shaped building to the south of the promenade and a building to the north that was defined in the competition as the IBA’27 Experimentierhaus (experiment building) with an open programme. This is where the AlWo housing initiative (Alternatives Wohnen Esslingen, a project with roots in the German »Mietshäuser Syndikat« model that has been part of the IBA’27 Network for a while) wants to create its first construction project – in what is referred to as the Kettenhaus. This flexible timber building will offer space for diverse forms of living in a range of housing offerings.
Facts and Figures
| Location | Esslingen Hohenkreuz |
| Size | 4 ha |
| Project kick-off | Proposal in the IBA’27 Network since 2021 |
| + | Space for approx. 1,000 residents |
| Timeline | 2021 Public consultation 2021 Two-stage design competition (not open) in a cooperative procedure: 2021 1st phase, international urban planning competition: StudioVlayStreeruwitz (Vienna) with Carla Lo Landschaftsarchitektur (Vienna) 2022 2nd phase, building design competition: – StudioVlayStreeruwitz (Vienna) with Carla Lo Landschaftsarchitektur (Vienna) – Wittfoht Architekten (Stuttgart) with Schreiberplan GmbH (Stuttgart) 2023 Included as IBA’27 Project 2027 First construction phase completed |
| Project initiator | Esslinger Wohnungsbau GmbH (EWB) / Baugenossenschaft Esslingen eG (BGE) |
| Partner | Alwo1 Wohnprojekt GmbH |
Contact
Project initiator
Esslinger Wohnungsbau GmbH
Mettinger Straße 135
73728 Esslingen am Neckar
Ramona Vollmer
Projektdurchführung
r.vollmer@ewb-es.de
Tel.: +49 711 93 18 84-71
Robert Binder
Techn. Projektmanagement
r.binder@ewb-es.de
Tel.: +49 711 93 18 84-21
IIBA’27 Project manager
Aerial View
