Description

Access:

Entrance halls connect street side to courtyard side; vertical point access, two units per floor; interior stairwell; some of the stairwells lit by windows.

Interior space:

The load-bearing elements are reduced to the exterior walls and the stairwell shafts. The use of light construction for non-load-bearing walls makes it possible to adapt to the needs of the residents and future changes in the housing market. The closed-off living spaces are accessed via separate, central halls. The kitchens receive natural light and ventilation, but the bathrooms are located at the core of the building. The narrow rooms on the courtyard side, most of which are attached to the kitchens, have loggia-like qualities when the windows are open.

Exterior space:

Annex rooms as loggias; maisonette apartments on top two floors have roof terraces.

Morphology:

This residential and commercial building fills the corner of a block perimeter construction. The cubic volume does not distinguish between the base and middle sections; only the volumes of the maisonette apartments on the top floors are articulated in the corners and lend a rhythm to the volume. The large window elements, which project from the line of the facade and are related to the commercial part of the building in terms of form and size, cover the red-plaster facade surfaces and, when seen in perspective, cause the austere openings to fuse into a glass skin. The windows offer a great deal of sound insulation, with soundproofing glass on the apartment side and a simple pane of glass in front, which improves the quality of living on the street side.

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