Anyone lucky enough to be able to move into one of the upper apartments in the new residential tower on Wiesbadener Straße in the Kastel district will be rewarded with a magnificent view.

But that is not the only advantage that the imposing wooden tower offers, because it is currently the only eight-storey residential building in Hesse to be built in a so-called hybrid wood construction - and thus an ecological showcase project.

So it's no wonder that the managing director of the leading Wiesbaden urban development company (SEG), Roland Stöcklin, proudly said during the topping-out ceremony on Friday: "We've done pioneering work here." supported with 1.8 million euros and the city sponsored him with another 1.2 million euros.

One result of this pioneering work is that 830 tons of carbon dioxide were saved during the construction of the residential tower.

According to Andreas Kowol (Die Grünen), Chairman of the Supervisory Board of SEG and Head of Traffic in Wiesbaden, these are about 88 percent lower CO2 emissions than with conventional construction.

Kowol also praised the CO2 balance during operation.

"If we operate this building for 20 years, we will only emit as much CO2 as was previously saved by the timber construction," said the Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

The tower, whose construction began in October 2020, should be ready by the middle of next year.

The building has a gross floor area of ​​4000 square meters and has eight floors.

The so-called wood hybrid construction method used to build the tower means that not only the façade but also large parts of the supporting structure are made of solid wood.

According to Stöcklin, the advantages of mineral construction with concrete in terms of fire protection and sound insulation are combined with the ecological advantages of timber construction.

Only this process makes taller apartment buildings in timber construction possible.

There is also a day-care center in the wooden house

21 apartments ranging in size from 56 to 102 square meters can be rented in the building.

Nine of them are reserved as subsidized housing for low-income people.

Three crèche groups from the neighboring day-care center are accommodated on the ground floor.

For Wiesbaden's Lord Mayor Gert-Uwe Mende (SPD), it is "a groundbreaking and innovative project that will hopefully take on a pioneering role in Hesse".

The construction is part of the "Kastel-Housing" conversion measure, and Mende regretted that the full development of the area would take longer because the Americans are not yet releasing some areas.

At the topping-out ceremony, Stöcklin referred to the growing problems in the construction of new apartments.

"Since February of this year, privately financed rental housing has no longer been economically viable," said the SEG managing director.

Stöcklin pointed out that more privately financed apartments were urgently needed in the Rhine-Main metropolitan region and that funding for their construction therefore had to be increased.