Green light by the city council for the construction plan

Particularly noteworthy at the meeting of the building senate was the consentaneous political support for the project across all factions. The city councils praised the project as "urban and great" and "coherent and well thought-out", so that the concept presented met with unanimous approval. Mayor Alexander Putz also proudly noted that Landshut is the only German city to be supported by the EU's Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) programme.

The basic intention of the "Home and Care" project is to develop a new form of flexible childcare that gives single parents the opportunity to pursue a training or take up a full-time job. Due to the growing challenges in the professional world, especially the need for shift work, this is currently not possible for many single parents. At the same time, the project intends to address the lack of personnel in the area of care work.

"Home and Care" wants to meet all these challenges with an innovative housing concept. Four three- to four-floor buildings are planned for the project, which are connected by an arcade. On the ground floor, four large day-care facilities will be created, above them a total of 20 apartments for single parents working in different care sectors.

The apartments of single parents working externally in healthcare and nursing professions and those single parents employed internally in child care, are linked together spatially either by a a door to the child's room or by a shared hallway. Thus, the two apartments can be imagined as a kind of shared flat that is united and separated at the same time. On the one hand this will ensure privacy while on the other hand, whenever needed, for example if single parents work night shifts, it will allow simple access for the day-care mothers to the child requiring care.

The resulting flexibility in childcare is further enhanced by the four large day-care facilities. Since these are located in the same building as the apartments, it is possible to provide child care at any hour of the day without removing the children from their familiar environment.

In order to meet the tight schedule set by the three-year duration of the project, it was decided to construct the whole complex in a modular wooden form. This should make it possible to complete the buildings in less than a year, i.e. by the end of August 2021. Klaus Köstler from the architectural firm Leinhäupl and Neuber, which won the procurement for the services of the general planner, explained the intended procedure as follows: two modules, which are prefabricated including the interior, form an apartment and will be stacked next to and on top of each other on site. This promises great cost certainty and a short construction period. Both are key factors, since "Home and Care" not only aims for a trial of the housing, care and working concept for at least one year but also wants to serve as a model project for other cities.

The first on-site work is scheduled to start in December. During the winter period the modules will be manufactured in the factory. Then, in spring 2021 they will bet set up and fitted with wooden cladding. In addition, 32 bicycle parking spaces are planned, and the necessary twelve car parking spaces will be created on the neighboring property, so that as much open space as possible – including a playground and even a bobby-car track – is preserved. A photovoltaic system could be built on the roof, and raised-bed gardens as well as a roof terrace are also conceivable.