This increase is changing the real estate market. According to estimates, three million more residences will be required in Germany for people of retirement age by 2030 compared with current numbers, and in many German regions, this will constitute more than 40 per cent of demand.

If people's own homes are no longer age-appropriate or inpatient care is unavoidable, this means seeking out a care home or residence that is equipped for seniors. Such properties are unfortunately in short supply, despite the fact that their homes occupy a key role in seniors' daily routines and even become the centre of life for many.

To resolve this dilemma, many communities and cities are launching new residential construction projects for seniors - such as the Gemeinnütziges Wohnungsunternehmen Eschborn GmbH. Right on the main road and next to the new traffic circle in Eschborn, Germany, two buildings are being constructed on an area extending over 3,600m², which will in the future house a care home with room for 60 people, 29 apartments equipped for seniors and multiple commercial units on the ground floors as well as an underground garage with 66 parking spaces.

Preparation of the construction site began in August 2019, while the Bauer Umwelt environmental division of Bauer Resources GmbH, which is responsible for preparing a turnkey excavation pit, started work in March 2020.

Before excavation could get started, Bauer Spezialtiefbau GmbH executed a retaining structure to safeguard the construction pit using a king pile and planks with a tieback. "After that, we excavated 18,000m³ of soil using two excavators and replaced 3,600m³ of ground," explained site manager Tobias Klose from the Bauer Umwelt division of Bauer Resources GmbH.

Overall, the work required tight coordination. The construction site is located right in the city centre, so while lots of space for manoeuvring, easy access and departure would have been ideal, the reality was quite different.

Soil material could only be transported away and disposed of or delivered at times with low traffic, for instance early in the morning or in the evening. And that's not all, there is a church and a playground only a few yards away from the excavation pit. "When the neighbouring buildings are so close by, extreme caution is required and the top priority during work is to minimise vibrations and noise," said Marcus Stannull, sales manager at the Bauer Umwelt division of Bauer Resources. Despite all these challenges, the project is planned to be completed in November after dismantling of the timber lagging and execution of the tieback as well as the backfilling in the working area.

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