Case study type: Edificio

The Mountain

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The Mountain

Urban Design

Main objectives of the project

The Mountain Dwellings in Copenhagen, Denmark, combine parking and living spaces in a unique way. The terraced residences cascade from the 11th floor to the street edge, utilizing the parking area as a concrete hillside base. All apartments have roof gardens for sunlight and views. The building creates a suburban neighborhood feel within an urban density. The roof gardens change with the seasons and are maintained by a watering system. Glass facades with sliding doors separate the apartments from the gardens, providing light and fresh air. The building offers convenient parking with 480 spots and a sloping elevator. Perforated aluminum plates on the north and west facades create a striking visual of Mount Everest. The apartments are naturally heated, lit, and cooled, with south-facing orientation and natural ventilation. The Mountain Dwellings provide a balance between city life and suburban tranquility.

Date

  • 2008: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group
  • Architect:  JDSA / Julien De Smedt Architects

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Copenhagen
Country/Region: Copenhagen, Denmark

Description

The Mountain Dwellings are located in Ørestaden, a new urban development in Copenhagen, Denmark. The program consist of 2/3 parking and 1/3 living. Rather than doing two separate buildings next to each other, we decided to let the parking area become the base for the terraced residences – like a concrete hillside covered by a thin layer of housing, cascading from the 11th floor to the street edge. In this way we merge the two functions into a symbiotic relationship. The parking area needs to be connected to the street, and the homes require sunlight, fresh air and views, thus all apartments have roof gardens facing the sun and amazing views.

The Mountain Dwellings appear as a suburban neighbourhood of garden-residences overflowing a 10-storey building – suburban living with urban density. The roof gardens consist of a terrace and a garden with plants changing character according to the changing seasons. The building has a huge watering system which maintains the roof gardens. The only thing that separates the apartment and the garden is a glass façade with sliding doors to provide light and fresh air. The residents of the 80 apartments will be the first in the quarter Ørestaden to have the possibility of parking directly outside their homes. The gigantic parking area contains 480 parking spots and a sloping elevator that moves along the mountain’s inner walls. In some places the ceiling height is up to 16 meters which gives the impression of a cathedral-like space. The north and west facades are covered by perforated aluminium plates, which let in air and light to the parking area. The holes in the facade form a huge reproduction of Mount Everest. At day the holes in the aluminium plates will appear black on the bright aluminium, and the gigantic picture will resemble that of a rough rasterized photo. At night time the facade will be lit from the inside and appear as a photo negative in different colours as each floor in the parking area has different colours. The Mountain Dwellings is located in Ørestad city and offer the best of two worlds: closeness to the hectic city life in the centre of Copenhagen, and the tranquillity characteristic of suburban life.

The entire building is naturally heated and lighted, as all apartments are oriented southward with large glazed areas/windows to let in sunlight. They are also cooled by natural ventilation. The parking lot/area is covered by perforated aluminum plates, which let in fresh air and light to the parking area. The building also has a watering system which maintains the roof gardens by redistributing rain through drip irrigation.

Authors:

Housing in Trondheim Illa de la Llum

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Housing in Trondheim Illa de la Llum

Urban Design

Main objectives of the project

The Illa de la Llum project is located at the intersection of Avinguda Garcia Faria and Selva de Mar, forming part of the Diagonal Mar operation. The site has limited space and follows a rigid urban plan. The towers maximize the available area, allowing for varied dimensions and layouts. The towers incorporate deliberate excavations and recesses to reduce excess height and create connections between neighboring towers. Inside the towers, strips define the corridors, utility spaces, and dwellings, offering flexibility in layout. Continuous terraces project outward from the habitable strip.

Date

  • 2005: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Clotet, Paricio i Assoc. S.L.

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Barcelona
Country/Region: Barcelona, Spain

Description

The project consists of a set of dwellings standing on the intersection between Avinguda Garcia Faria and Selva de Mar, known as the Illa de la Llum (Island of Light), and forms part of the Diagonal Mar operation. The urban plan clearly defines a 32,940 m2 site available for construction to be shared among three buildings. Everything is very precise, with little leeway for manoeuvre, and responds to a highly debatable model that disregards links between facades and the street.

This project clearly rejects the compositional obsession with slenderness, as if it were an unquestionable compositional value. Indeed, the towers take maximum advantage of available ground area, thereby making it possible to build dwellings of different dimensions and distributions. They reach the compulsory height and the excess buildability that would result from all floors being identical is reduced and adjusted by means of deliberate excavations , recesses that increase as height is gained and which are conducted in areas that look northwards, zones without sea views or else at the points of greatest proximity between the towers.

In the towers and around each nucleus of stairs and lifts a series of strips have been defined that totally encompass the nucleus in the big tower and only three of its sides in the smaller one. The nearest is the access corridor to the dwellings. The next one, 50 cm wide, accommodates pillars and utilities. The broadest strip, 8 m wide, houses the dwellings, in which the total absence of fixed vertical elements makes a great variety of distributions possible. Another 50-cm strip once again accommodates utilities, structure and the walls that separate the habitable strip from the continuous terraces that project 3 m outwards.

Authors:

Private Housing

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Private Housing

Urban Design

Main objectives of the project

This new apartment block embraces formal invention and celebrates materials and nature. The design optimizes the site and utilizes prefabrication techniques for efficiency. The building's curved shape gradually rises from three to six storeys, culminating in a striking prow. The exterior is treated as a massive rock face, which will transform into a stunning vertical garden. The walls consist of prefabricated concrete panels clad in steel wire cages filled with stones and rock plant seeds. Balconies, some enclosed by wooden fencing, add further character to the building. The stone cages evoke a sensual, primeval quality reminiscent of ancient dry stone walls. Witnessing their transformation into a modern hanging garden will be captivating.

Date

  • 2000: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Edouard François

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Montpellier
Country/Region: France, Montpellier

Description

Attempting to invest speculative housing with a measure of formal invention is generally a thankless enterprise. However, the design for this new apartment block uninhibitedly explores and celebrates materials and nature. The brief from the property development company was for 64 flats and 47 parking spaces on a tight budget.
The architect s proposal followed a familiar and logical pattern based on making the most economical use of the site and exploiting techniques of prefabrication. For the most part the flats are single-oriented either to the east or west, and are entered from a spinal central corridor. The curved block inscribes a gentle arc in the landscape and gradually steps up from three to six storeys along its length, terminating in a prow at the south end.

The most radical aspect of the scheme is the treatment of the exterior as a massive rock face that will eventually bloom into a spectacular vertical garden. Moored on a solid stone base, the walls are formed from a series of prefabricated concrete panels measuring 2.77 by 1.35 metres. The external face of each panel is clad in a layer of steel wire cages, containing loosely compacted stones. The model is clearly the gabion cage, typically employed in river and highway engineering as a retaining element. Panels assembled in cages were set within the steel formwork and studded with a double layer of frost-resistant pebbles. A layer of sand followed, then seeds of rock plants contained in grow bags. The end of the cages are set within a layer of concrete that forms the inner face of the panel. On removing the formwork, the sand was gently shaken out, leaving the soil and seeds. A watering system installed between the joints of the panels will nurture the emerging plants. The elevations are also articulated by various types of balconies, some enclosed by rustic wooden fencing, others by timber panels. Larger enclosed cabin-style balconies on the east side are supported on angled steels tripods and connected to individual flats by narrow walkways.

The stone cages have a curiously sensual, primeval quality, like the ancient dry stone walls in fields. It will be fascinating to witness their slow metamorphosis into a modern hanging garden.

Authors:

Lohbach Residences

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Lohbach Residences

Urban Design

Main objectives of the project

This housing development, located in Innsbruck, features six buildings with five to seven storeys, offering a total of 298 apartments. The car-free zones, designed by artists, serve as playgrounds and are accessible via paved paths. The apartments have French windows leading to balconies, providing ample free spaces accessible from every room. Copper shutters and satinated glass parapets offer sun protection, weather resistance, and privacy. The development includes a supervised home for the elderly and apartments equipped for elderly or disabled individuals. Sustainability, ecological standards, comfort, and low operational costs are prioritized in this new part of Innsbruck. The compact buildings with varying heights optimize space and offer views of the surrounding landscape. The use of shutters on the balconies allows for a flexible balance between private and public life. The planning process emphasizes software over hardware, resulting in cost savings without compromising quality. The staircases and surface materials maintain a high standard uncommon in social housing projects.

Date

  • 2000: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Baumschlager Eberle / be St Gallen

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Innsbruck
Country/Region: Austria

Description

This housing development is located at the west end of the Franz-Baumann-Weg and forms the border between the residential and agricultural zones in the western part of Innsbruck. The 298 apartments of the complex are spread out over six buildings with five to seven storeys, accessed via a system of paved paths and areas. Designed by artists, these zones are car free and also utilised by children as playgrounds. A covered entrance area leads to the large stairways lit from overhead from which the units are accessed. All openings to the outside are French windows providing access to the balconies that run around the buildings. As a result, each apartment disposes of generous free spaces accessible from every room. Shutters made of copper and parapets of satinated glass serve as a protection from sun and weather and provide privacy. There is a supervised daily home for elderly people in one of the buildings and apartments with special equipment for elderly or handicapped persons. All houses have direct access to the underground car park.
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This new part of Innsbruck is characterised by sustainability, high ecological standards, comfort for the inhabitants and minimal operational costs. The energy savings for space heating and domestic hot water heating amount to approximately 70 per cent compared to conventional dwellings of the same size. The placement of these six extremely compact buildings with different height levels permits that the spaces between have been omptimised while providing for a high density. These spaces offer interesting views of the surrounding landscape and the use of the shutters on the balconies mediates the relationship between private and public life allowing for continual change and in accordance with the inhabitants needs.

The aim to use more software and less hardware in the whole planning process has been achieved without compromising on quality. Cost savings for the inhabitants have been achieved on invisible parts and both the generously dimensioned staircases with stone floors and the high standard of surface materials are not often found in social housing projects.

Authors:

Chassé Park Apartments

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Chassé Park Apartments

Urban Design

Main objectives of the project

Date

  • 2002: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Xaveer De Geyter Architects

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Breda
Country/Region: Breda, Netherlands

Description

This apartment block is part of an urban plan by OMA, focused on preserving open space in a former military base for a new public park while achieving housing density similar to the city center. The project includes five residential towers on a parking ring surrounding a sunken inner garden. The towers are positioned closely together, with different orientations based on factors like views, sunlight, and the composition of the parking ring and inner garden. The towers vary in the number of apartments per floor, resulting in minor differences in ground plans. The façades feature white glazed brick, vertical windows alternating with concrete panels, and glass panels with a concrete structural mesh. Each apartment has a spacious winter garden that can be used as an external space or an extension of the living room. This apartment block forms part of an urban plan by OMA, which was focussed on preserving as much as possible of the open space of a former military base for conversion into a new public park, while creating a housing density similar to the one in the city centre. This was achieved by a campus model, in which very different building types are juxtaposed inside the park. Given the diversity of scale, typology and materials involved, the coherence of the plan is provided by the park. The project consists of five residential towers on top of a parking ring, which surrounds a sunken inner garden onto which the entrances to each tower open. The light, transparent parking ring rises 1.5 m above ground level. The towers are positioned tightly together, each with its own orientation, their position relative to one another determined by factors such as outward and inward views, exposure to sunlight, the layouts of the parking ring and the inner garden, and the transparency of the composition. Three of the five towers have two apartments per floor, the fourth has one and the fifth has four. The varying relative position of the towers creates minor differences in ground plans.

The façades overlooking the inner garden are of white glazed brick to reflect sunlight, and have small horizontal windows. Other façades feature vertical windows alternating with anthracite prefabricated concrete panels with a slate inlay. The third type of façade consists entirely of glass panels, some with a concrete structural mesh behind the glass. The parking garage roof is of translucent polyester. Each apartment has a large winter garden, with sliding glass walls opening both outwards and inwards, which may be used as an external space, as an extension of the living room or as a separate room.

Authors:

Herold Social Housing

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Herold Social Housing

Urban Design

Main objectives of the project

Date

  • 2007: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: MGM morales-giles-mariscal

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Cadiz
Country/Region: Cádiz, Spain

Description

This social housing project includes 100 apartments of various sizes, with the ground floor reserved for handicapped individuals and street-level shops. The design of the three buildings was influenced by the site conditions and their integration into the urban space. The apartments are accessed from a public garden at ground level, and they are distributed along exterior walkways. The design takes into account different orientations and seasons, with north-facing rooms designed for thermal isolation and south-facing rooms featuring glazed living areas and balconies with sliding ETFE curtains for winter use. Solar thermal panels on the roof provide 65% of the hot water for the bathrooms. The project embodies urban and ecological principles to create a new housing solution. The programme for this social housing project required 100 different-sized apartments with the ground floor for handicapped persons and shops at the street level. Located on land left-over from the Herold Hospital in Paris’ 19th arrondissement, numerous site factors conditioned the design of the three buildings, which led to thinking about them as resultant elements from the urban space. Accessed from a ground-level public garden, the apartments are distributed along exterior walkways. Since they face different orientations, their design has been adapted to the different seasons: rooms oriented towards the north have small openings and greater thermal isolation, while those facing south have glazed living rooms and bedrooms adjoining balconies that feature transparent sliding ETFE curtains, permitting wintertime use. Roof mounted solar thermal panels produce 65% of the hot water for the bathrooms. The project is thus the result of urban and ecological principles taken as the conceptual starting point in the creation of a new urban housing response.

Authors:

Sphinxes

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Sphinxes

Urban Design

Main objectives of the project

Date

  • 2003: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Neutelings Riedijk Architects

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Huizen
Country/Region: Netherlands

Description

The five 'sphinxes' feature fourteen apartments each, maximizing sunlight and lake views. The buildings taper towards the water, creating a distinctive profile resembling a sphinx. The penthouse apartments in each block have unique designs, forming a striking skyline seen from the Stichtse Bridge. The fringe of reeds surrounding the sphinxes serves as a transition to the shore and a water treatment filter. Concrete landing stages provide access to the buildings, which have silver-coloured metal cladding. The public space includes lookout points, a surf beach, a village square, a wind balcony, and a fishing jetty.

The five 'sphinxes' each contain fourteen apartments arranged so as to make the most of the location and sun light. The blocks taper in plan towards the water thereby maximising unobstructed views of the lake both from the shore and from the apartments. As one moves up the building, each floor contains one less apartment. The result is a sphinx-like profile with the sun-oriented roof terraces situated on the slanting back of the mythical beast. The design of the penthouse apartments is different for each block giving rise to a rhythm of distinctive heads - a striking skyline seen from the shore approach of the Stichtse Bridge that links the new polders with the old mainland.

The sphinxes stand in a fringe of reeds that serves both as a gentle transition with the shore and a hydrophytic filter for water treatment. Concrete landing stages cut through the reeds to provide pedestrian access the sphinxes and next to them lie the sunken entrances leading to the underwater garages that double as foundation tanks. The façades are clad with silver-coloured metal sheets.

The public space has been designed as an integral part of the scheme. At five points along its length the esplanade turns into a look-out bastion, a surf beach, a village square, a wind balcony and a fishing jetty.

Authors:

Europan – Roubaix, France

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Europan – Roubaix, France

Mismatches
Urban Design

Main objectives of the project

Date

  • 2010: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Bathile Millet

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Roubaix
Country/Region: France, Lille

Description

Villa Sarrail, a diverse and densified development, preserves the typological variety of the original Europan project. The architect reconstituted the building frontage and adjusted volumes to maintain typological variations. Multiple typologies and entrances were incorporated to promote diversity and encounters. The layout plan appears homogeneous, with dual-aspect apartments on the main street and rooftop houses on Rue Neuve. External spaces such as balconies and patios connect different parts of the development. The aim was to achieve social diversity while respecting densification requirements. The project also emphasizes the separation between public and private spheres and includes a route connecting the city and the residential heart of the island, along with housing extensions and shared spaces. The implementation process enhanced the project's morphological, functional, and social aspects. Villa Sarrail The architect succeeded to keep in the development of her project the typological variety present in the original Europan project.She reworked the project in two stages: first reconstituting the building frontage on all the plots, then changing the volumes in keeping with the typological variations. Multiple typologies to generate diversity, multiple entrances to facilitate encounter, are the basic principles of the team. The layout plan gives a deceptive impression of homogeneity: the frontage on the main street consisted of dual-aspect apartments, with small independent attic units above resembling rooftop houses. On Rue Neuve was a block of split-level apartments, and opposite the public car park, five four-storey townhouses. The different parts of the operation were bounded by decked external spaces, balconies or patios, available for use by the occupants.

The idea was to involve a social mix in a large typological variety while respecting the requirement of densification. Finally, this hypothesis was further amplified in terms of diversity through the work of precise distance between public and private spheres, by the development of a route between the city and residential heart of island, through the treatment of housing extensions and of shared spaces. Its implementation has revealed to all players in the operation of a value-added analysis process more complex but nevertheless leading the project on enriched morphological, functional or social tracks.

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Europan – Innsbruck Olympic Village

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Europan – Innsbruck Olympic Village

Mismatches
Urban Design

Main objectives of the project

Date

  • 2006: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Frötscher Lichtenwagner Architekten

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Innsbruck
Country/Region: Austria, Innsbruck

Description

This project is a multifunctional city within a city, catering to people of all ages. It includes social housing, assisted living apartments, a day-care centre, a youth club, a multifunctional hall, and a supermarket. It serves as a village within a village, connecting the surrounding Olympic Villages and providing a collective new center. The design showcases both meticulous urban planning and individual attention to detail. It fosters a sense of community, with teenagers gathering at the square and elderly individuals finding a supportive living environment. This mixed-use project successfully accommodates diverse populations, aligning with Europan's goal of promoting inclusivity.

This project is a small city built for people of all age groups, with a complete repertoire of different functions. It includes at the same time social housing for families, assisted living apartments, a day-care centre, a youth club, a multifunctional hall, a supermarket. It is a village in a village in a city… The project is both urban design and architecture, and it shows both an enormous control on the large scale and individual care and creativity on the level of its parts. It stands self-consciously in the middle of the two Olympic Villages, linking them, giving them a collective new centre, both formally and programmatically. Teenagers use the square as a place to hang out, elderly people have found a place where the can live on their own with help when needed. Thus, the capacity of the quarter to house all kinds of different people, one of the main reasons why Europan promotes mixed-use projects, has been increased.

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Authors:

Europan – Wien, Austria

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Europan – Wien, Austria

Mismatches
Policies and regulations
Urban Design
Promotion and production

Main objectives of the project

Date

  • 2022: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Arenas Basabe Palacios arquitectos

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Vienna
Country/Region: Austria, Vienna

Description

Arenas Basabe Palacios was runner-up with their project Urban Software to E12 competition. Their project proposed a strategy prioritising the process over the final result, based on the generation of a flexible support able to react to the various scales and context conditions. This award allowed them to take part in the design of the Siemensäcker urban planning for a new 8 hectares residential neighbourhood in the north of Vienna. This urban project was developed through a collaborative process with a dozen or so offices of experts in urbanism, architecture, landscape, mobility, energy,etc.

Once the masterplan was passed in December 2016, the owner of the land (Austrian Real State) commissioned us with the design of 65 housing units, distributed in three blocks of different dimensions (sizes S, M, L).

The project takes advantage of the different building scales and free spaces foreseen in the planning to connect itself to the diverse urban fabrics that surround it and to adapt to the topography and landscape. The scale of the buildings is attenuated thanks to the volumes that project outwards from the façade, which also stablish specific relationships with the surrounding elements, spaces and axes. In parallel to the design of the architecture, we are still involved in the ‘Qualitätenkatalog’- the group of experts that collectively define the qualities of the free space, the landscape, the common parking space and the management of the non-residential uses of the neighbourhood. In this manner, individual decisions are made based on collective work, and vice versa: it is thus a design process that unifies the disciplines of the architecture and urbanism, establishing guidelines at building and neighbourhood scales simultaneously.

Each housing unit is organized around a nucleus of furniture, which integrates within every storage, installation and serving unit. Thanks to this, all living spaces are connected to the exterior, reserving for the ‘day area’ (kitchen-sitting room-dinning room) the area wich will enjoy, due to its two orientations, the most daylight hours.

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