New build - GWG München

Emphasis on communal living:
Bavaria’s first shared residences
for senior citizens in subsidised
housing
One of a kind: Bavaria’s first shared residences for senior citizens
in subsidised housing are located in Sendling-Westpark,
in a unique cooperative project between GWG München and
Caritas. For a whole year, the social welfare association and
GWG München held information evenings and other events
designed to aid and support residents in taking their first steps
towards a new phase of life.
Building two shared residences for senior citizens requires far
more than simply ensuring that everything is barrier free. It
entails creating a structural framework for a changing society
with its new forms of living. The fact that both young and old
live alongside each other in the Hinterbärenbadstrasse shows
how much potential is concealed in a society which is becoming
older and more colourful. The erstwhile extended family
has become a multi-generational society, which offers plenty
of scope for personal encounters.
The first of the two residential ensembles for senior citizens
was opened in June 2008. Dietmar Bock, senior commercial
manager of GWG München, summed up the concept of
the “WGplus – Living in Community plus Service” project as
follows:
“What GWG München wants is to be able to serve its tenants
for a lifetime, wherever this is possible. All tenants who wish
to do so should be able to remain in their homes, even if they
suffer from physical or health restrictions. For us, this service
also includes organising help.” (GWG Journal, special edition,
October 2008, p. 4). So what is behind this special service?
“The basic idea behind WGplus is to allow residents to share
an apartment in which the various individual areas cater for all
wishes and the communal areas represent an additional option”
(GWG Journal, special edition, October 2008, p. 15).
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