CLIENT - PFLEGEN & WOHNEN, REFUGEE ACCOMMODATION
LOCATION - Hamburg, Germany
REQUIREMENT- In 1993, increasing numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers were arriving in Hamburg, and the city government instructed Pflegen & Wohnen to take care of them. It soon became clear however that there was a lack of suitable on-shore accommodation that would meet immediate and future needs.
SOLUTION - Temporary, floating accommodation was the answer, and the Bibby Altona Coastel™ is the latest of a number of Bibby Line Coastels™ to be used to house refugees in the city, since 1993.
BENEFITS - Bibby Altona was chartered by Pflegen & Wohnen in 1995, the charter terminating in December 2006. Since 2003 it has also been used by state police as offices for first registration of refugees and asylum-seekers, and during some winter months has been opened up as accommodation for the city's non-refugee homeless people.
It can cater for up to 550 people, has a large restaurant and kitchen, features recreation and office facilities on all four decks, and has washrooms, toilets and shower rooms throughout.
For Pflegen & Wohnen it offered instant and high quality accommodation; was flexible and adaptable; and, crucially, cost-effective. For the city of Hamburg, it had little impact on the environment
COMMENTS BY CLIENT
"Pflegen & Wohnen were extremely satisfied by the quality of the Bibby Altona, the cooperation granted by Bibby's personnel on board, and by Bibby's management and staff. This extended to certain periods during which the number of refugees and asylum seekers on board exceeded the normal capacity of the vessel. Of great benefit were the so-called mini-kitchens, which enabled people aboard to prepare their own meals in case the European food available was not acceptable to them on religious grounds."
Mr Kurt Wiener
De Vries & Co. ABOUT CLIENT
Pflegen & Wohnen can trace its history back almost 400 years. Originally founded by the citizens of Hamburg to take care of the sick and needy, it is now a state-owned and controlled company, though it is privately-organised.
Translated as 'Care & Accommodating', Pflegen & Wohnen runs a number of facilities which cares for around 12,000 people who - for a variety of reasons - are unable to look after themselves or who are homeless.
