Affordable housing is disappearing from Berlin. Listed rents have risen by 74% over the past decade; in the new-letting segment, average earners can afford only 27.8% of available apartments. In the Mettmannkiez, this situation is acute: demolition plans by Bayer AG threaten one of the last affordable housing stocks in Wedding. At the same time, social isolation is growing — roughly one in ten Berliners is affected by loneliness.
"From the Inside Out — Community as Antidote" responds to this situation with a cooperative transformation of the late-19th-century apartment building at Fennstraße 33. By selectively removing and reintroducing floor slabs, a three-tiered spatial organisation emerges, linking compact private zones with generous communal areas. A rooftop addition on the side wing creates additional living space and a shared roof garden. Occupancy rises from 29 to 48 residents.
The concept develops two complementary housing typologies. Compact, vertically organised units address young adults and newcomers. More generous spatial sequences offer retreat and orientation for older residents and single parents. Both typologies complement each other in everyday life: mutual support, childcare, and social proximity arise not through programming, but through spatial configuration.
The ground floor opens the building to the neighbourhood: a local lab with a communal kitchen and workshop is available to the entire community. The main entrance is relocated to the courtyard, making it the shared heart of the building.
The cooperative "Zusammen e.G." leases the site from Bayer AG for 99 years. 30% of the floor area is allocated at a capped rent of €7/m²; the average net rent amounts to €215 per person per month.