“Happy living”, BUWOG Group’s maxim, is cross-generational and I would like to take advantage of this blog entry to present a current BUWOG renovation project in Kiel aimed at the elderly among us.
AWO Servicehaus in Kiel-Suchsdorf is characterised by the following residential concept: Servicehaus residents are tenants in their own flat; they live self-sufficiently and independently within their own four walls. Service provided by AWO nursing staff can be booked by residents on an individual basis so everyone receives only the service they need. And regardless of how the residents’ life circumstances change, due to illnesses, for instance – they are always able to remain in their flats. Even with the most serious of illnesses it is not necessary to move.
Of course AWO Servicehaus also offers community rooms and community activities, but the residents decide for themselves where they want to participate. However, the central community room, in particular, as well as other areas of the building have become too small in the last few years and have had to be renovated.
BUWOG invests in existing building and carries out construction work during ongoing operation
In close cooperation with AWO, which is responsible for the nursing and care services, owner and developer BUWOG Group began a wide range of renovation, expansion and modernisation measures for Servicehaus, without impairing ongoing operation. The entire entryway, community room, daycare area and offices were renovated and expanded. A new building segment was completed and integrated into the facility. The old connection between the two residential buildings, Sukoring 2 and 4, was also replaced and expanded during a construction period of about a year.
Good partnership between BUWOG and AWO
The new construction again demonstrated the good cooperation between BUWOG Group, which currently lets 65 flats in the facility, and AWO, which in addition to services for the residents also offers ten places for short-term and residential care as well as 16 places for daycare. I talked to the responsible asset manager, Christian Neujahr of BUWOG Group in Kiel, and he told me that the renovation and expansion was not only necessary due to the acute problem of space – for instance in the daycare centre and community room. For BUWOG, investments in Servicehaus were also a logical step due to the age-related signs of wear and tear in the building connection and for energy-related reasons.
Marcus van Meer, director of AWO Servicehaus, summarised the mood in the building following renovation, as follows: “For tenants and residents of the residential care area, the highlight is definitely the newly furnished community room featuring a living and dining area, which is also separable and will also be used for events. For the employees it is the new offices. And for the daycare guests, of course, the entirely new, well-lit and spacious rooms of the daycare area with the small garden. And, of course, the large shared entryway. Everyone at Servicehaus really benefits from the new building”.
Michael Selck, managing director of AWO Schleswig-Holstein GmbH, also expressed thanks for the positive cooperation. “The AWO-Servicehaus concept and its five principles of ‘privacy and independence, certainty and reliability, social connectedness and a sense of security, customised assistance, and a home until the end of life’ is more than 35 years old, but hasn’t grown old. Of course the entire property in Suchsdorf also belongs to the ‘silver agers’. We welcome it all the more when the owners of our location– like BUWOG Group – invest in their homes and take our needs into consideration. That says a lot for a good partnership”, Selck writes.
And with all of the residents and employees I, too, am delighted that Servicehaus is now fully renovated and I’m certain our investment will have a positive effect on the quality of life of everyone in the building.
