Construction expertise meets lived care reality.
Cobau Consultant is the advisory we wish we had had ourselves when we started with senior living projects 15 years ago — and that we painfully missed in the Humanika care reality 8 years ago.
Two worlds became one.
Cobau has its roots in construction. For almost 15 years we planned, coordinated and delivered building projects — with a particular focus on complex special-purpose buildings. We knew how to build.
What we didn't know at that depth: how a nursing home feels during the night shift. How a head of staff decides on duty rosters. What lease level an operator can still bear in year 7 when care rates stagnate and minimum wage keeps rising. Which conflicts between fire safety and WTG requirements really emerge.
Eight years ago we became part of the Humanika Group — and with it, part of a care operator. Suddenly we no longer sat only at the drawing board, but in the day-to-day of care. We learned how care works. And we learned what care expects from construction — and where construction has misunderstood care for decades.
From this connection Cobau Consultant was born: an advisory that understands both worlds equally and brings them together in projects.
Why this is rare
The German senior living market is populated by three advisory archetypes: classical real estate consultancies with good market and transaction expertise; specialised care advisors with operational depth but little construction know-how; and architectural firms specialising in care construction, which usually lack the operator and operations perspective.
We are all three under one roof — and that combination is rare in Germany.
Our standard
We advise on projects we believe will hold up. We don't take mandates where we cannot see feasibility. And we say it early and clearly when we identify risks — even if it means the mandate becomes smaller or doesn't materialise at all.
This stance costs short-term revenue. Long-term, it creates trust — and repeat mandates.
Part of a care operator — operationally rooted.
The Humanika Group is an established provider of outpatient and inpatient care. Through our affiliation we have daily access to nursing leadership, resident experiences, staffing and operational data — and thus to a practical reality external consultants cannot replicate.
We use this connection deliberately — but stay independent in our recommendations: we recommend operators, concepts and solutions that fit your project, not us.
What we stand for.
Honest over pleasant
We say early what we see — even if it changes the project. Optimistic accounting helps no one.
Operational over theoretical
Our recommendations come from lived care and construction experience, not from textbooks.
Connected over isolated
We think across disciplinary boundaries — and translate between stakeholders who otherwise don't understand each other.
Let's get to know each other.
A 30-minute initial conversation is the best way to see whether we are a good fit.