“Living as Life” is the motto for this integrative residential model. 65 home care employees work at the residence whose ultimate purpose is to ensure quality living conditions for people with restricted mobility. The residential area includes the senior living facility from the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB), the Haus Johannes, the assisted living facility Tagessstätte im Kaiserstuhl and apartments adapted to the elderly’s lifestyle into which anyone can move.

Planning for the residential area in Bahlingen reaches back to 1999. Back then planners identified that the community was able to meet most every resident’s needs with the exception of senior citizens. Because the state of Baden-Württemberg didn’t see the need to build its own home for the elderly, the mayor Lotis and other municipal officials took matters into their own hands.

In 2006 the place was open for new residents. Around 30 residents who need around-the-clock care live on the ground floor. In the upper and top floors, senior citizens and families with members who require home care live in 18 handicap-accessible apartments. There is also a petting zoo in the residence with goats, sheep, rabbits and guinea pigs.

What makes this residence so special its he way in which it is financed through a so-called „Public Private Partnership“ (PPP model), which emerged through the close partnership between the municipality of Bahlingen and planner Wolfgang Frey. The model distinguishes between possession and property ownership: While the municipality retains the possession rights on the property, the actual ownership goes to the investor who is both responsible for planning and construction. Those responsible for construction are held directly accountable for financing the projects. In their function as planner and owner, they have a personal motivation to walk the fine line between quality and cost savings.

Wolfgang Frey acts not only as investor and owner, but with his holistic views on sustainability and his social engagement, he also brings with him a very conscious approach to architecture. With their nooks and seating areas, hallways act as little meeting points for people for a spontaneous chat; the gardens lure visitors to take a stroll. They include fenced in areas for people with dementia so they are not isolated. In addition, the building is off the grid. The service water runs solely in a renewable fashion through thermal heating and heating systems with wood pellets. The rated output of the photovoltaic system is higher than the building’s entire power consumption.