Description
This residential development is situated in the eastern section of the Broëlberg park, in a dip in the terrain between the old manor house and a fifties villa. The sophisticated, angled volume responds to the various features of the location, the topography, the surrounding groups of massive trees and the lake view, with different building depths and staggered heights. Access is on the north side, and the building opens up from its narrow side into the garage in the base storey and a parallel corridor, and then into two core areas. All the dwellings are accessible from there, with the largest ones on the ground floor and first upper floor. To match the scale of neighbouring development the building is structured in three sections, with recesses as roof terraces on the top floor. Inside, the location’s various qualities are reflected in a variety of apartment types.
The access cores, kitchens and bathrooms are space-creating elements predetermined by statics and services. They structure the living areas, which can also be further subdivided with lightweight walls, thus making various lifestyles possible. Here ‘living space’ means the entire area less usable space, so that the structurally tight demarcation of an armchair and sofa area can be omitted from the rest of the area. Living is fluid here. Glazed loggias develop–through their close association with the kitchen and living area–to be ‘central’ spaces in the apartments, and are linked with outdoor seating areas on the ground floor and large terraces on the attic storey. Shifts in the ground plan make all the dwellings open on several sides, with the attic and base storeys being integral components of the body of the building.
Outside the smooth-shuttered, joint-free exposed concrete strengthens the volumetric presence of the building. Its orange-red, coloured with iron oxide, complements the rich green of the surroundings in summer, while in winter it harmonizes with the dark brown of the bare trees.
Drawings
Site plan
Axonometric diagram of the angled volume with access cores
Ground floor with main access, parking garage, ancillary rooms and apartment
Second floor with five apartments of different sizes
Third floor with three apartments of different sizes and large roof terraces
Cross section
Photos
Exterior view from the south
Interior view of living room with fireplace and roof terrace
Originally published in: Klaus-Peter Gast, Living Plans: New Concepts for Advanced Housing, Birkhäuser, 2005.