Description

Access:

Lobbies connect the street side to the courtyard side; vertical point access, four units per floor; stairwell located in the interior; natural light in the stairwells through the windows of the loggia openings.

Interior space:

The rational and extremely economic structure of this vertical-point-access building with four units per floor is developed along its longitudinal axis. All of the vertical supply lines and the main load-bearing elements are bundled on that axis, so that the only supporting structures required on the facades are rows of slender supports. Most of the apartments, with the exception of the corner units and the large apartments, are oriented to just one side, as a result of the structure. The living and sleeping spaces are arranged along a corridor on the longitudinal axis. Two of the units on each floor have an additional living space in the form of a deep loggia—exterior space that supplements the French balconies.

Exterior space:

Loggia openings cut deep into the building volume from both sides and provide natural light for the stairwell; narrow balustrade space running around the building in the form of a French balcony; communal roof terrace.

Morphology:

This I-shaped building volume is staggered, rising from eight to ten floors, and visually connects with the neighboring library to form an ensemble. The building has windows on all sides and has deep cuts, which divides the volume into three zones. The slightly projecting ceilings of each floor are designed as French balconies. The most striking detail of this austerely structured building is its silk-screen windows, which are intended to serve as privacy screens for residents..

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Originally published in: Peter Ebner, Eva Herrmann, Roman Höllbacher, Markus Kuntscher, Ulrike Wietzorrek, Typology +: Innovative Residential Architecture, Birkhäuser, 2009.