How shared ownership & preservation of a creative site can make our city more livable & sustainable.
NAA is a sustainable real estate project by a group of young entrepreurs in Altona, Hamburg. The co-working space is organized as a cooperative and thus not only creates affordable, high-quality and sustainable space for Altona's entrepreneurs and creatives, but also makes them co-owners.
Most of the future NAA is already in place and being preserved. Only about 1/3 will be newly and sustainably built.
The impact of the NAA as a model for collaborative urban development reaches far.
Local
Germany
Hamburg, Altona
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Neues Amt Altona eG Type of organisation: Cooperative (Genossenschaft) First name of representative: Feena Last name of representative: Fensky Age: 30 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Gender: Female Nationality: Germany Function: Member board of directors Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Große Bergstraße 264-266 Town: Hamburg, Deutschland Postal code: 22767 Country: Germany Direct Tel:+49 40 22863623 E-mail:orga@neuesamt.org Website:http://neuesamt.org
Neues Amt Altona is a development project located in Hamburg-Altona that entails
• the construction of a new cooperative coworking building
• the protection of an existing, affordable creative hub
• the creation of a public ground floor with space for gastronomy, events and neighborhood activities
The project is dedicated to establishing a progressive and collaborative workspace within a socially and ecologically sustainable framework, which is co-owned by its users and rooted within its neighborhood.
The project is located at the heart of Hamburg-Altona and aims to preserve Altona’s former tax office as an affordable hub for local creatives by securing all existing rents for at least twenty years. An extension of the existing building will create new coworking space for the newly founded cooperative and a strong presence on Altona’s main street, Neue Große Bergstraße. While its roof will serve as a public recreation zone, the ground floor of both the existing and the new building will form a public connection between both sides of the urban block.
cooperative
participation
sustainability
co-working
aesthetics
NAA creates green spaces by…
...creating a microclimate with its green façade, strengthening urban biodiversity and contributing to health and well-being.
...creating additional infiltration area and an urban natural space through an intensive green roof.
NAA uses energy sustainably...
...as a low-tech building, since it does not use any environmentally harmful building technology, thus enabling very low-emission building operation.
...by continuing to use the grey energy of the existing building and permanently safeguarding that of the new building through the cooperative's long-term usage perspective and the adaptability of its flexible room systems.
...since it drastically reduces per capita space consumption through high occupancy density and shared infrastructure.
...since it is powered exclusively by renewable energy, thanks to its in-house photovoltaic system, the purchase of climate-friendly energy from a local power plant, and the use and storage of grey water.
NAA conserves resources by...
...using wood as the primary building material, which both saves and stores high amounts of CO₂ in the long term, reduces building materials through an efficient and weight-saving wood construction, and at the same time creates a healthy indoor climate for its occupants*.
...maximizing the use of recyclable building materials, so that in the event of deconstruction, separation by type and recycling of the building materials is ensured as far as possible in the sense of the circular economy.
...using local materials that make a regional economic contribution and come from certified sustainable production.
The new building is designed to allow maximum flexibility in spatial configurations for both the co-working zones on the upper floors and the public spaces on the ground floor and thus corresponds the long-term development perspective of the cooperative. While the ground floor is realized in reinforced concrete, creating a robust environment for its public use, the timber construction of the upper floors produces a pleasant indoor climate and drastically reduces the CO₂ emissions during the construction process.
NAA promotes public welfare by...
...providing 25% of its coworking spaces to non-profit organizations in partnership with the Hamburg Social Authority.
...facilitating low-threshold social and cultural offerings for the neighbourhood with local stakeholders through the formation of a non-profit association.
...creating a (discourse) space for topics such as diversity, anti-discrimination, children's rights, homelessness, dementia, women's rights and many more through events and cooperation with local players.
...leasing its commercial space on the ground floor at fair rental prices to local and sustainable businesses, and also creates an intercultural gastronomic offer there.
NAA enables creativity by...
...preserving the old building including the creative location "Altes Finanzamt Altona" (former tax office) and guaranteeing and subsidizing the existing leases on a total of 3,300 sqare meters of floor space for 20 years.
NAA builds community by...
...combining cooperative and coworking to create liveable work and meeting spaces as a basis for responsible cooperative work with a long-term commitment to the location.
...connecting local creatives and entrepreneurs, thus providing a platform for dialogue and development of new ideas with the help of its community management, and contributing to local economic development.
Even though it will be a while before the NAA exists in its future form, we as a cooperative are already occupying the space where our new building will be constructed. We rent the space to be demolished and use the former shopfront as a pop-up space. On the one hand, our creative project office is located there, and on the other hand, we are already opening our doors to the neighbourhood.
We use the pop-up space to temporarily create a common, public space for Hamburg, the neighbourhood, cooperative members and artists/cultural workers. Thus, many formats are already taking place at NAA: a colourful café for dementia patients, an association that promotes children's rights, various artists and cultural workers who create multifaceted exhibition formats, an Aperetivo bar that brings weekend nights to life with drinks and music, to musicians from different genres. Thus, the pop-up spaces have already become a space for many people and many socio-political topics, and want to continue to be so in the future.
After holding a conceptual tender in 2018, Hamburg’s state-owned real estate company LIG has chosen the concept “Neues Amt Altona” conceived by the newly founded cooperative to be realized. We saw a unique opportunity to turn our thoughts around a new kind of community driven urban development into reality at this location by acquiring the property with a newly founded cooperative and thus creating a place that can belong to many: Das Neue Amt Altona. Two years later, the foundation process of the Neues Amt Altona-cooperative was terminated, and the completion of the new building is scheduled for 2024. Since the beginning, many different people, disciplines and stakeholders have been involved in the process of creating the Neues Amt: our interdisciplinary team of architects, business economists, cultural scientists and engineers. Our entire community from a wide range of industries, as well as the neighborhood, which is involved in the planning of the Neues Amt through our participatory approach. We also receive a lot of encouragement and support from the City of Hamburg, the Bürgerschaft, the Senator of Finance, and other experts who share our vision and support us with their knowledge and networks.
Our small project team covers a wide range of disciplines: architects, real estate developers, cultural and communication scientists, business economists and engineers. We live and breathe inter- and transdisciplinary cooperation and are convinced that this is the best way to work on and implement the sometimes divergent demands and challenges of our project. The project team also acts as the board of directors of the cooperative.
We chose the cooperative model out of conviction: the future users are co-owners of the NAA and are involved in the planning process from the very beginning – a unique concept for Hamburg.
Cooperative associations represent long-term commitments to and investments into a collaborative enterprise. In the case of NAA, the link between planning and community has decisive advantages – both for the members of the cooperative and for the extended urban community. The long-term commitment of Neues Amt Altona eG to the property of the former Altona tax office saves the real estate stock from sale and speculation, because:NAA creates community property without profit distributions for individuals and thus prevents a profit-oriented exploitation of the property by the real estate industry.
Another advantage of the cooperative organization lies in the financing of the project: The equity capital required for the implementation of the project can be built up in the initial phase through the memberships. This means that the project is not dependent on anonymous investors, but is made possible by its future users and convinced supporters.
In this way, the cooperative makes all members co-owners of the property – with all the rights and obligations, as well as the security that a cooperative offers. Everything that happens under the umbrella of the cooperative or possible subsidiaries should be in the interest of the owners, i.e. the members of the cooperative.
The special and innovative thing about the Neues Amt is its vision as a cooperative to shape a piece of the city. Cooperative associations represent long-term commitments to and investments into a collaborative enterprise. In the case of NAA, the link between planning and community has decisive advantages – both for the members of the cooperative and for the extended urban community. The long-term commitment of Neues Amt Altona eG to the property of the former Altona tax office saves the real estate stock from sale and speculation, because:NAA creates community property without profit distributions for individuals and thus prevents a profit-oriented exploitation of the property by the real estate industry.
Another advantage of the cooperative organization lies in the financing of the project: The equity capital required for the implementation of the project can be built up in the initial phase through the memberships. This means that the project is not dependent on anonymous investors, but is made possible by its future users and convinced supporters.
In this way, the cooperative makes all members co-owners of the property – with all the rights and obligations, as well as the security that a cooperative offers. Everything that happens under the umbrella of the cooperative or possible subsidiaries should be in the interest of the owners, i.e. the members of the cooperative.
With the Neues Amt Altona our goal is to implement a holistic sustainability approach within the field of real estate development. Ecological, social and governance impacts of the project are paired with a strong and independent economic entity in the form of up to 300 local and financially engaged members organized within the Neues Amt Altona Cooperative. The platform to host this vivid community and the neighbourhood will be an architecturally and structurally careful and long lasting designed space - the Neues Amt Altona.
With our joint building project NAA, we want to set a strong and visible example for new building, new working and new economic activity. For the whole of Hamburg and for Altona as a district, the NAA is intended to act as a beacon for the fact that cooperatively organized, user-centred and community-oriented construction and real estate projects work on the one hand, and on the other hand represent added value both internally and externally.
A new place for community and belonging is being created that addresses many of the issues and challenges of our time, creates a space for them on a local level, and aims to demonstrate approaches to solutions.
All the added values are long-term in nature and will have an impact for years and decades to come, as the entire project is designed for the long term.
We are convinced that we can only meet the urban societal challenges of our time by rethinking urban development. This rethinking has already begun and a new type of spatial developers has come on the scene. They are mostly made up of local actors who jointly pursue the goal of developing spaces for the common good rather than for profit.
With the help of local networks and innovative financing strategies, they try to build long-term perspectives for a broad participation of the urban society. The goal is to create and implement a user-supported vision for the city of tomorrow, in which individual spatial projects become test fields for innovative future models. NAA sees itself as part of this movement and wants to be a role model for how to address issues like sustainability, community, participation, transparency, new financing concepts, happy living and co-working in the city.
