Description
“Communality and individuality, freedom and security, closeness but not restrictive” is the motto of the house built in 2007 according to the tradition of the Beguines, who since the 12th century have lived together as independent women, not in cloisters but in relative freedom and independence in a community with other women.
Situated in a peaceful and attractive location near the Landwehrkanal in Kreuzberg, the building designed by the architect Barbara Brakenhoff is embedded in a vibrant, urban and functionally diverse district of Berlin. It fills a gap in the perimeter of an urban block alongside buildings from the turn of the century and is conceived as a pair of seven-storey buildings with two sets of access lifts and stairs. The primary access to all the apartments is via an entrance passageway in the centre of the building which marks the boundary, via a gate, between the public street and the semi-public courtyard area for the residents at the rear. Four apartments on each storey are accessed via a balcony walkway along the rear of the building, reached from one of the two staircases and lifts. The ground floor contains the communal spaces as well as guest rooms and private apartments. The building provides a total of 53 wheelchair-accessible apartments. Three different groups of floor plan typologies were developed with sizes ranging from 56 to 105 m². Of particular note are the ground-floor apartments, which have a small front garden facing the street as well as the courtyard, and the top-storey apartments, which are maisonettes with large terraces.
The spatial structure of the building is designed to facilitate and promote communication and social interaction: on each of the floors, four apartments are accessed via a joint balcony area which can be used and personalised by the group. The balconies that extend the width of the building and the loggias face each other so that they can be joined together as desired.
Commensurate with the specific needs of this communal living project, the building – which was developed in a process of intensive consultation with the residents about their different living requirements – creates a space for sociability and individuality, community and self-fulfilment specially for women.
Drawings
Photos
Exterior view from the street
Full-height glazing in the interiors
Originally published in: Eckhard Feddersen, Insa Lüdtke, Living for the Elderly: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2011.