Beta Realities

Wilhelm Innovation House

Can we design affordable housing through material innovation?

The Wilhelm Innovation House combines new standards in simple building with innovative timber construction. The flexible design creates social terraces, affordable housing and a sustainable daycare that adapts over time.

Beta Realities designs the new innovation building in Hamburg Wilhelmsburger Hafen. Building plot 19-South acts as a "hinge and terminating point": bordered on three sides by parkland, it forms the spatial counterpart to the northern axis and completes the sequence of courtyard and block structures. The urban design gesture is deliberately balanced: a stepped volume that recedes towards the park and adopts the edge towards the northeastern neighboring buildings. This creates a termination that neither dominates nor fades into the background—it conveys scale, visual connections, and a legible identity. This confident yet context-sensitive approach corresponds to the design guidelines' requirement for small-scale textures and differentiated building forms.

Project Region

Europe

Project Period

2025

Location

Hamburg, Germany

Team

Paul Clemens Bart, Marvin Bratke, Andrei Dan Musetescu, Alisa von Postel, Klemens Sitzmann

Status

Concept Design

Programme

Living, Education

Client

PARCBAU GmbH

Collaborators

fabulism, noku, Sitzmann Studio

Size

3.750 m²

Visualisation

The Big Picture

Urban Continuity.

The ground-floor facade opens to the Kita playground, creating a seamless connection between inside and outside. Transparent, welcoming entrances and half-public zones integrate the building with its park context, establishing continuity between the neighborhood and communal spaces while enhancing interaction and visibility for all users.

A Modular Design Approach.

The design emerges from a clear six-step strategy: defining an efficient base module, splitting it for modular construction, removing corner volumes for terraces and views, creating stepped roofs, integrating community rooftop areas, and embedding greenery into the facade—balancing efficiency, flexibility, and spatial quality.

A Living Facade.

Integrated greenery softens the building’s mass and strengthens its connection to the park. Balconies, terraces, and planted facades create layered vertical gardens, promoting biodiversity, visual richness, and a sustainable, human-centered environment that merges architecture with nature.

Symplicity in Modularity.

Elevations reveal the modular composition: clear, repeatable volumes define structure and rhythm. Facade grids articulate balconies, loggias, and material transitions, supporting flexibility, efficient prefabrication, and a legible visual hierarchy that balances small-scale texture with urban presence.

Elevated Communal Living.

Community roof gardens, photovoltaic areas, and visual connections across the block foster social interaction, creating a layered network of shared spaces that unite residents while complementing the park and surrounding courtyard structures.

A Spatial Hierarchy.

From intimate gardens to interactive courtyards and shared rooftops, the arrangement of private, semi-public, and communal areas encourages social interaction, safety, and accessibility, offering a flexible spatial framework that supports community life without compromising individual privacy.