Description
A display of different kinds of circulation: The lower building section – originally a garage with a turning loop for the buses of the Allied Forces at the former Checkpoint Charlie – occupies the entire lot and forms a plateau on which the six story apartment building is erected. Levels 1 and 2 are occupied by maisonettes with the luxury of private front gardens that are directly accessible from the plateau. Both interior and exterior stairs lead to the upper level.
The four upper apartment floors are accessible via galleries, two of which as part of a two-story gallery clad in glass louvers, and another gallery that is open beneath a cantilevered roof projecting far into the urban space. The simple apartments along the galleries utilize and emphasize the east-west orientation: front-to-back east-west living rooms with galley kitchens or kitchens facing east, living rooms with a loggia or balcony facing west.
The lower gallery also provides access to the apartments on level 3 via stairs inside the apartments. They are comparable to the other apartments; however, a wall parallel to the stairs separates a corridor, which connects the bedrooms, bathroom, and a storage room and loops around to connect with the living room. The penthouse apartments feature one extra study or bedroom overlooking the short gallery and have the added benefit of a roof terrace.
Drawings
Floor plan diagram, scale 1:500
General layout: -1st floor to 6th floor from top to bottom
3-room duplex, 2nd and 3rd floor, scale 1:200
3-room apartment (entrance on level above), 4th floor, scale 1:200
2-room apartment, 5th floor, scale 1:200
2-room apartment, 6th floor, scale 1:200
2-room apartment, 7th floor, scale 1:200
Cross section
Axonometric view
Photos
Street façade
Originally published in: Oliver Heckmann, Friederike Schneider (eds.), Floor Plan Manual Housing, fourth revised and expanded edition, Birkhäuser, 2011.