We were at the Alte Feuerwache construction site with around 15 students on 18.01.2024. Site manager Meichler from the architecture firm "W plus Q" welcomed us and gave us a tour of the apartment buildings from the turn of the century around 1900. The houses had not been maintained for many years and had ultimately stood empty for over 10 years. A cooperative is now renovating the entire property with the help of small loans and personal contributions from the members of the cooperative. As there is not much equity capital available, they are also working on their own. In view of the demands placed on the renovation work under milieu protection, these personal contributions are essentially left to be ancillary and auxiliary work. These also have to be well organized and carried out safely.

Our students gained an exciting impression of the difficult process of weighing up in each individual situation whether existing buildings can be preserved and upgraded or whether something needs to be replaced with new components.

The managing director of Alte Feuerwache Weimar Projekt GmbH, Ms. Werth, representing the investor group, took the opportunity to explain the cooperative business model to us, in which consensus is reached on the important issues during construction through many regular and long plenary meetings.

The feedback from the students was very lively and showed great interest. The visit impressively illustrated to us the great diversity and professional breadth of the demands that can be placed on planners and building contractors in existing buildings.