The Passerelle
The Passerelle, a social project for refugees and non-refugees, already received the Tübingen Integration Award in 2019. Now their new building has been recognised yet another time: as one of the 37 selected projects for exemplary building in Germany in the framework of the New Leipzig Charter, which advocates for community-oriented, integrated and sustainable urban development. a+r Architekten, an architectural firm with offices in Stuttgart and Tübingen, designed the building for the Passerelle in Tübingen’s Südstadt district and developed a coherent concept for communal living.
The Passerelle in Tübingen — the new building of the district-based housing, action and health project for refugees and non-refugees in Tübingen’s Südstadt — was recently selected as one of 37 projects that stand for exemplary building in Germany and implement the innovative approaches of the New Leipzig Charter (NLC). The project is supported by the Institut für Gesundheitsförderung und Sozialforschung x-igs e.V. (an association for health promotion and social research) together with volunteers, interested parties and members of a private building cooperative.
"Passerelle" means transition and describes the guiding principle of the initiative: according to the ideas of those responsible for the project, “diverse transitions are to be made possible” in joint activities – carpentry, pottery, gardening and many other pursuits. Educational offers, health promotion, joint festivities and creative workshops, all this takes place in the group rooms of the Tübingen-based initiative and supports people in gaining a foothold in society.
The building on Hechinger Strasse, designed by a+r Architekten, is located directly on the district square and was occupied in autumn 2019. It provides 13 flats with different floor plans and communal project and workshop rooms. Also in 2019, the Passerelle project received the Tübingen Integration Award, which is presented by the City of Tübingen for projects that promote integration and equal opportunities for people with and without a migration background. This was particularly pleasing to the building owners, who wanted affordable housing for both refugees and non-refugees. The proportion of refugees was to be around 80 per cent, and the building was to support the integration process and coexistence.
