Kraftwerk 1 Housing Complex

Markus Kuntscher, Ulrike Wietzorrek

Description

Access:

Spacious entrance halls oriented in different ways, depending on the neighborhood squares. The system of access differs according to the type of building: vertical point access, two units per floor via interior stairwell lit by windows; vertical point access, four units per floor, via interior stairwell lit by skylight; external access gallery, interior stairwells.

Interior:

The apartments are consistent with the generous layout of bourgeois homes of the previous turn-of-the-century. The larger apartments have a large entrance with closets that connects the various groups of rooms and offers a view across into the living area; if required, it can also serve as a workplace or dining area. To one side lie groups of equal, individual rooms; straight ahead is the large living/dining area, which stretches out along the facade, accompanied by a loggia that extends the full width of the building.

Exterior:

Loggias across the entire width of the building, adjacent to the living rooms and individual rooms, some face in just one direction, south, while others face two directions, east and west.

Morphology:

The tall facades of the complex are structured according to a grid that breaks down the height by subtly alternating the elements and creates a horizontal movement that relates the freestanding buildings to one another. The ground floors, building edges, and loggias are framed with robust concrete elements; the flat parts are built as plastered compact facades. The green glass parapets of the broad loggias and the full-height windows lend the complex a specifically urban expression.

Drawings

This browser does not support PDFs.Site plan, scale 1:5000

This browser does not support PDFs.Apartment access diagram

This browser does not support PDFs.Ground floor, scale 1:500

This browser does not support PDFs.Third floor, scale 1:500

This browser does not support PDFs.Fourth floor, scale 1:500

This browser does not support PDFs.Seventh floor, scale 1:500

This browser does not support PDFs.8th and top floor, scale 1:500

This browser does not support PDFs.Sample apartment, scale 1:200

This browser does not support PDFs.Cross section, scale 1:500

Photos

Exterior view

View of apartment interior


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

Building Type Housing

Morphological Type Complex/Ensemble, Slab/Super-Block

Urban Context Urban Block Structure

Architect Stücheli with Bünzli & Courvoisier

Year 2001

Location Zurich

Country Switzerland

Geometric Organization Linear

Building Depth Staggered depths up to 20 m

Number of Units 98 units

Size of Units 1 unit with 13 rooms, 354 m²
2 units with 12 rooms, 273 m²
1 unit with 9 rooms, 249 m²
1 unit with 8.5 rooms, 239 m²
1 unit with 7.5 rooms, 180 m²
2 units with 7 rooms, 130 m²
3 units with 6.5 rooms, 141 m²
6 units with 6 rooms, 122–41 m²
13 units with 5.5 rooms, 126–44 m²
1 unit with 5 rooms, 125 m²
4 units with 4.5 rooms, 92 m²
16 units with 4 rooms, 92–103 m²
8 units with 3.5 rooms 87–96 m²
8 units with 3 rooms, 74–88 m²
5 units with 2.5 rooms, 49–75 m²
1 unit with 2 rooms, 49 m²
6 units with 1 room, 70–90 m²
1 unit with 1 room, 40 m²
1 unit with atelier apartments with 3.5 rooms, 134 m²

Height High-Rise (8 levels and more), Mid-Rise (4 to 7 levels)

Load-Bearing Structure Solid Construction

Access Type Corridor, Vertical Core

Layout Corridor/Hallway, Duplex/Triplex, Neutral Plan, Zoning

Outdoor Space of Apartment Loggia

Parking Underground parking garage

New Building, Refurbishment or Extension New Building

Additional Information Building volumes: Ensemble of four staggered solitary buildings with a dominant slablike structure; north–south orientation of the main building. 5 to 9 floors above ground and 1 below with parking garage; some of the first floors are raised above ground level; depths staggered, up to 20 m.
Additional features: Ateliers, common rooms, kindergarten

Program Cooperative Living, Participatory Housing Design

Client Bau- und Wongenosenschaft KraftWerk

Address Hardturmstrasse 261-269
Zurich, Switzerland

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