Freiham cooperative housing project wagnisWEST showcased after regional building culture award

More than 80 people from politics, public administration and planning firms visited the cooperative housing project wagnisWEST in Freiham on 13 October to see a scheme recognised in the Munich Metropolitan Region's 2025 Building Culture Prize. The specialist event, which included guided tours, talks and a panel discussion on site, was organised by the European Metropolitan Region association and the city's Department of Urban Planning and Building Regulation.

This year's prize, held under the motto "Transformation with Quality", honours completed mixed-use neighbourhoods and town and district centres in the region that serve as exemplary models and strengthen polycentric development. wagnisWEST received a commendation. It is the first joint building project of the young cooperative wagnis eG and the long-established housing cooperative Wohngenossenschaft München-West eG.

The project lies at the heart of Freiham, Munich's new district. Its current residents developed it through an intensive participatory process guided by the question: "What has to be mine, and what can I do better in a community?" The result is 134 flats with informal meeting areas, a range of shared rooms, communal roof gardens, mobility services, a solar power system supplying electricity to tenants and several commercial units.

The scheme was built with sustainability in mind, with little sealed ground, more greenery and an emphasis on the circular economy.

Mayors from several municipalities in the metropolitan region attended, showing particular interest in the cooperative model and the innovative planning. City councillor and district committee chair Sebastian Kriesel, of the CSU group on the city council, stood in for the Lord Mayor and discussed the development of Freiham and the distinctive features of the cooperative project with the city's planning director, Professor Dr Elisabeth Merk.