Description

On a larger building lot, the building mass is dissolved into a series of compact volumes to provide better light and air flow and a scale more in line with the proportions of surrounding buildings. Each level in this connected chain of volumes is divided by a load-bearing wall running alternatingly length- or crosswise through its middle, thus dividing each floor into two halves. These floor halves are either connected to one another by bridges in the space between the volumes or separated by the vertical access cores placed here.

The different orientations of the volumes and connections between them are combined to generate different floor plan types. Studio apartments occupy one half of a floor. In type
a
, ground floor studios are located in the crosswise divided volumes and oriented towards the courtyard. Type
b
consists of a floor half divided longitudinally plus half of an outdoor bridge space. The somewhat larger units type
c
occupy an entire floor where one half contains the bedroom and auxiliary rooms such as the bathroom and kitchen, while the other remains a completely open living room. The largest unit type
d
is accessed via an open divisible living room (with the exception of the street-facing unit) in the longitudinally divided volume. It is connected by the bridge to a bedroom and bathroom in the adjacent, crosswise divided volume.

Near the transparent edges of the volumes, slender columns support the levels, enabling a visual connection between the apartment interior and the outdoor space beyond. A zone emerging between the columns and the glass facade can be used as an outlying access hallway between the different rooms of a single unit, or to slightly expand the size of the spaces.

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Originally published in: Oliver Heckmann, Friederike Schneider with Eric Zapel (eds.), Floor Plan Manual Housing, fifth revised and expanded edition, Birkhäuser, 2018.