Description

Two families, who are friends, wanted to create adjoining apartments with a shared semi-public space for socializing with neighbours and friends. To this end, the U-shaped duplex building surrounds a large shared courtyard, which is completed into a rectangle by a two-story veranda with external stairs.

The internal plan in the two apartments is organized according to the same principle: a large open living area on the ground floor and individual rooms upstairs. The two kitchens face toward each other and overlook the courtyard. The living areas are oriented in the opposite direction, away from the courtyard.

On the second floor, all rooms also face away from the courtyard, with the exception of the work areas, which are oriented in both directions. Both apartments can be divided on the upper floor, allowing for a flexible arrangement of rooms.

The internal access areas for both apartments are turned toward each other whenever possible: access to both units is provided at the ground and upper level via the shared veranda, the internal stairs face one another and are linked on the ground floor by the wooden terrace.

Upstairs, the corridors to the bedrooms on the courtyard side also face each other and are integrated via the veranda into a continuous ring connection. Opposite to this veranda, the balconies for both units lie side by side; like the veranda and the terrace, they are oriented toward the shared center in the manner of a theater box.

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Originally published in: Oliver Heckmann, Friederike Schneider (eds.), Floor Plan Manual Housing, fourth revised and expanded edition, Birkhäuser, 2011.