Description

This structure is primarily used as an administration building. Behind the double skin glass facade fitted with uniform drapes, the residential maisonettes located on the two top floors, are barely decipherable as such from the outside. On the elevation overlooking the city, the volume has the appearance of a crystalline and homogeneous sculpture. However, a ring-shaped completion of fourteen maisonettes arranged around a shared courtyard is situated above the office atrium and beneath a cantilevered roof. On one facade, the continuous wooden deck opens up with a two-story loggia to the city; otherwise, this space exudes a tranquility that is almost reminiscent of a cloister.

At the entrance to the apartments, two slightly offset lobbies – with the bottom landing of the stairs and the bathrooms to one side and the rooms i.e. apartment doors to the other side – separate the public and private areas of each unit.

The open-plan living area is located on the upper level and reached via a set of single-flight stairs on the courtyard side, which defines the kitchen and dining areas. The conservatories, which are almost room size, extend the open-plan living area and are cantilevered over the courtyard. They also shelter the entrances below and give each unit a unique “face”. All rooms set along the outer facade benefit from a panoramic view of the city through floor-to-ceiling windows.

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