For years, the Heerdt district—particularly the formerly industrial zone south of Hansaallee—has been undergoing significant transformation. What were once industrial sites between Hansaallee and Willstädter Straße are now giving way to a vibrant residential quarter with diverse uses. Schulte Architekten from Cologne, commissioned by developer Wohnen in vierzig549, designed a comprehensive scheme across two adjacent plots: four residential buildings housing 177 apartments, eight townhouses with underground parking, and a kindergarten with five classroom groups.

Five-storey residential blocks form a clear boundary between the new neighbourhood and the existing industrial buildings to the northwest. Two L-shaped building volumes line Hildegard-Knef-Straße, framing the kindergarten and green public spaces along this street. Each structure features a distinctive two-storey clinker base topped by upper floors in soft render colours—a confident architectural statement that marks the district's edge. Fully clinker-faced gable ends and building heads facing the kindergarten and green spaces maintain this visual frame throughout. Profiled render detailing at floor levels adds horizontal emphasis, while vertically-aligned colour bands interlace with these elements, creating individual identity within the larger composition. Two-storey colour fields recessed slightly within the building base highlight each entry, with colour shifts distinguishing one residence from the next. The garden-facing elevations employ the same horizontal base treatment, enriched by projecting balconies and loggias that punctuate the primary façade. The vertical colour palette echoes across to the street side, reinforcing the compositional rhythm. A meandering loggia frame adds fine-grained visual articulation to the overall massing, while all parapet colours coordinate harmoniously with their surrounding house colours.

www.schultearchitekten.de

Photography Credits:

Manos Meisen
www.manosmeisen.de

(Published in CUBE Düsseldorf 04|23)