Business start-up centre 'Startpunkt e.V.' with urban district orientation
(North-Rhine Westphalia)
Source: plan zwei Stadtplanung und Architektur, Hannover
The urban district of Ostersbaum, which is northeast of the inner city of Wuppertal-Elberfeld, was built around 1900 as a city extension and is regarded as a traditional working-class residential area. It is characterised by very dense enclosed block building with a high level of old building substance. In the past, the dense buildings featured a high mixture of commercial use. Today, they are mostly residential.
The urban district has a high population density with a heterogeneous structure and an above-average number of young residents. Many immigrants and unemployed live in Ostersbaum. Due to the simply equipped housing units with low rents, predominantly population groups with low incomes live here.
Ostersbaum has been a programme area for "Stadtteil mit besonderem Erneuerungsbedarf - Soziale Stadt NRW" (Urban district with particular renewal needs - Social City NRW) since 1997. There are not enough qualification opportunities in the urban district. The need to develop a citizens' community is great.
Source: plan zwei Stadtplanung und Architektur, Hannover
The Huppertsberg family textile factory was forced to close in the 1990s. An empty, four-storey factory building with the brick construction typical of Germany's 'Gründerzeit' remained. This commercial storey construction, which is typical for Wuppertal, was classed as a listed building in 1994.
A group of young locally-rooted entrepreneurs from the fields of architecture, design, media and science developed a conversion concept for the building with the Huppertsberg family and the city. The project initiators' motive was to conserve and care for the listed building. At the same time, there was the opportunity to bring young businesses from design fields together on this site and to achieve synergies in a cultural business start-up centre. In the end, it was also about making contributions to the establishment and development of a social, cultural and district-specific infrastructure and to integration into the social and cultural network of active groups in the urban district.
The building was purchased by three project initiators, initially at their own risk. The owners' association provided the non-profit Startpunkt e.V. with the building for a purely cost-covering rent. Startpunkt e.V.'s key task is the usage and care of the listed building and the support of socio-cultural aims in the urban district, to which all the businesses in the start-up centre have contractually agreed.
Today, the building is used by young businesses from the design and media-oriented professions. Artists and non-profit and district-specific organisations have also found a base for their activities. The factory is the place for the qualification of young people in cooperation with local schools and "Labor für neue Arbeit" (Laboratory for New Employment). At a prominent part of the building, an open meeting place with a restaurant has been created. Here, the industry-cultural aspects of the listed building are illustrated.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1995 | Shut-down of shoelace production in the Huppertsberg factory |
| 2001 | The factory is purchased by GbR Büchele, Reinartz, Quellhorst |
| 2001 | Concept development for the start-up centre Startpunkt and the partial use of areas |
| 2001 | bFoundation of Startpunkt e.V. |
| 2003 to 2005 | Building completed in the start-up centre during running business |
| 2006 | Opening of the project |
| 2007 | Continuation of work on the top storey |
Source: plan zwei Stadtplanung und Architektur, Hannover
Source: plan zwei Stadtplanung und Architektur, Hannover
Source: plan zwei Stadtplanung und Architektur, Hannover
The project combines citizens' involvement with social, cultural, neighbourhood and urban development matters of concern. It is characterised by the affiliation of main users in the organising association, Startpunkt e.V., an advisory board and by the cooperation with schools and urban district associations. The cooperation with the local economy contributed to the security and constancy of community-oriented work.
The project location can be directly translated into Google-maps. Project in Google-Maps
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 42107 - town: Wuppertal - street: Hagenauerstraße 30.
Record inserted on 24.01.2008 by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) within the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR).
Last update: 24.09.2010